Minutes 11/28/1978 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

(6 ) I don't put full blame on the state. When I began asking <: Ic>>r 'lb m(/,. questions several months ago, it became ~.' . that our local agencies and their boards have not instituted record ,.- keeping and controls that I feel are necessary to insure accountability of public money. For example, my observations are that: Most agency employees are not logging their daily time which is needed to measure productivity. Some agencies are not keeping good output records ~ .. , .. needed to measure the quality and quantity of service delivery. "",...... .~, In most agencies, unit cost and output productivity measures have not been developed. Obviously, because public money is being utilized, there is a great need for agencies to institute proper systems for accountability of the money. This was illustrated last spring when Lambert Wood provided me with his figures tracing Martins vi lIe 's contributions to Chapter 10 agencies from 1975 through 1978. I cross-checked Mr Wood's figures against the City Audited figures provided by Holladay Yeaman, and fOillld significent differences,,~_~ ~.-lBQ[L (M~_ . [I'lII Jt - iYl In 1975, Mr Wood's figures show that Martinsville spent $12,523 for Chapter 10 agencies--Mr Yeaman's figures show an expenditure of $9429, a difference of $3095. For 1976, the two sets of figures differ by $9056. In 1977, the figures differ by $292, and they are identical for 1978. Neither Mr Wood nor Mr Yeaman could explain why the figures were different, although Mr Yeaman pointed out that his figures were takenvfrom the yearly City audits. I still don't illlderstand the discrepancies. 4Jrectl'1 Another example occured during the City budget hearing last May, when I examined r figures in the armual report of the Patrick Henry Drug and Alcohol COilllcil. I calculated that the Impact employees were only working one hour and 57 minutes a day and Alcohol Treatment Center employees were working only one hour and 15 minutes a day. In view of these figures, I questioned why new employees were being sought in the budget request. The answer I received from Mr. Tobin, Director of the Drug and Alcohol Council, was that the figures published in his annual report were not accurate. Mr. Tobin explained that only information on some special clients were kept, not others, that employee time was not logged and that his agency did not have reliable information on how effective the treatment was.