Contractor to review county’s financial operations

Douglas County seeks to revamp its financial operations and wants to pay a nonprofit organization to help.

County commissioners on Monday agreed to negotiate a contract with the Government Finance Officers Association, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that monitors business practices and finance regulations on a state and federal level.

“They are very in touch with financial regulations nationwide,” County Treasurer Paula Gilchrist said.

The contract could be worth more than $53,000. GFOA would examine how the county’s departments handle budgets, manage accounts and pay bills.

“It’s pretty much anything you can think of on the financial side,” Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said. “They will go in and look at our core system.”

GFOA would not only recommend how the county could more efficiently handle finances, but also what type of equipment and software would be needed. The county’s current financial system is antiquated and is not integrated among the various departments.

“It isn’t user-friendly,” Assistant County Administrator Pam Madl said.

Funds have been placed in reserve during the past several years for such a study and for systems that might be required for implementation, Madl said.

GFOA has worked with Sedgwick County on its systems. At the recommendation of Shew, Madl and Gilchrist, commissioners waived the bidding process and agreed to the negotiations with GFOA.

In other issues:

¢ Commissioners approved joining with the city of Lawrence in challenging the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2006 population estimates for Lawrence and Douglas County. The census estimates Lawrence’s population was 88,605 on July 1, 2006. The city and county planning staff’s estimate is 89,127, a difference of 522 people.

Even though the estimates are not far apart, it can still make a difference in the amount of federal funding a community can receive, city officials said. Certain types of federal funding and their amounts hinge on local population counts.

The Census estimates the county’s population to be 112,123. The planning staff has yet to come up with its own county estimate.

A formal challenge must be filed with the Census Bureau by Monday.

¢ Commissioners approved adding pavement fabric to the improvement project planned for Woodson Street in Lecompton. The polypropylene pavement fabric will reduce the amount of cracking and inhibit water entering the pavement, county engineer Keith Browning said.

The cost of pavement fabric will add $13,500 to the $179,198 bid recently accepted from Hamm Cos. for the project. The project also includes putting a mill and overlay on County Route 1045 from Midland Junction to the Jefferson County line, where pavement fabric will not be added. Work is expected to begin soon.