The intent is to help all County departments pay obligations timely and understand requirements for proper stewardship of public monies. The purpose is to manage all bank activity and record such activity onto the financial ledgers.
County Expenditures Guidance
The annual budget ordinance and subsequent budget changes embody the County's policies and priorities. Also, the budget documents authorize the County to spend monies toward County programs and projects under the following pre-audit and payment requirements:
- obligations must comply with the budget ordinance; to achieve compliance, sufficient unobligated budget must be available to meet the obligation when it becomes due (G.S. 159-28(a))
- to verify compliance, each obligation must be pre-audited, meaning that the County Finance Director, or a designee, must certify whether the amount of unobligated budget is sufficient to meet the new obligation and give approval for the obligation if all other requirements are met (G.S. 159-28(a))
- each obligation must contain a properly signed pre-audit certificate that reads substantially as follows: "This instrument has been pre-audited in the manner required by, and complies with, Article 3 of Chapter 159 of the North Carolina General Statutes, also cited as 'The Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act'." (G.S. 159-28(a))
- sufficient proof of the obligation must be provided to document its existence (G.S. 159-28(b))
- each payment must contain a properly signed pre-audit certificate that reads substantially as follows: "This disbursement has been pre-audited in the manner required by, and complies with, Article 3 of Chapter 159 of the North Carolina General Statutes, also cited as 'The Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act'." (G.S. 159-28(b))
- each payment must be paid by check or draft on an official depository (G.S. 159-28(d))
- each payment must contain the signature of the County Finance Director (G.S. 159-25(b))
County Revenues Guidance
To take advantage of interest on bank deposits, the County follows these requirements:
- the Commissioners have designated HomeTrust and the North Carolina Capital Management Trust as the official depositories for all banking transactions (as authorized in G.S. 159-31(a))
- all monies on deposit in an official depository are fully secured through sufficient collateral, FDIC insurance up to $100,000, and/or other methods allowed by the N.C. Department of State Treasurer (G.S. 159-31(b))
- all monies collected must be deposited each day, either with the County Finance and Purchasing Department or in an official depository and reported to the County Finance & Purchasing Department the next morning (G.S. 159-32)
- to provide investment income, the County Finance Director manages all investments subject to the County's Investment Policy and other restrictions that may be imposed by the Board of County Commissioners (G.S. 159-30)
- to verify sufficient cash exists to pay obligations and to properly invest idle cash, all banking transactions must be reported to or handled by the County Finance and Purchasing Department