County Treasurer Bill Sinclair announced this week that he will not seek re-election for a second term.
Last month marked the third year since he was elected to serve as county treasurer. He was appointed in May 2006 by the Commissioners Court to complete the term of Treasurer Sheree’ Jones, who had resigned.
“Since I was enjoying retirement at the time I accepted the appointment, I am looking forward to returning to that status upon completion of my term in December 2010,” Sinclair said in a news release.
Sinclair said the office of county treasurer is the people’s representative for the county’s financial affairs.
“I have found it to be extremely important that the holder of this office have financial and accounting knowledge and experience,” he said. “My pledge to the voters was to achieve certain goals during my term.”
He said those goals included Eliminating the backlog of bank reconciliations and maintain in a current status; developing written operating procedures; cross-training a staff of three; achieving timely outside audits; responding to any and all audit findings; and improving visibility and transparency of the office
“I am pleased to report that my office has made significant progress on all of these goals,” Sinclair said.
Although it took longer than expected, he said, bank reconciliations are now maintained in a current status. This milestone was achieved in last May. As a result, he said, the county’s fiscal year 2009 audit will commence in January 2010, five months earlier than in prior years.
Most of the office’s tasks have now been described by written procedures. During the following year, Sinclair said, the goal is to prepare a flow diagram showing all tasks performed by the office and indicating the applicable procedure and other key information. This will further enhance everyone’s understanding of the level of work and work flow, according to Sinclair.
“We continue to cross -rain among staff members and goals have been set for the next year for each employee,” Sinclair said.
Upon appointment to the office, Sinclair said, he found more than 40 internal audit reports that required a response, some of which had received second or additional notices. In keeping with the above stated goal, that problem has been resolved. As of November, Sinclair said, he has logged more than 330 internal audit reports, including the foregoing, with most reporting clean opinions.
“I am pleased to state that any with findings are generally responded to and closed within 10 days,” Sinclair said.
Sinclair said he has posted financial reports, investment reports, independent audit reports and other information on the treasurer’s Web pages to enhance the visibility of the office.
“I intend to continue to add to the information available to the public during the coming year, specifically in the area of financial policies.” Sinclair said. “The Web page depicts a listing of pending policies in work.”
Sinclair stressed the importance of the treasurer’s office in county government.
“Clearly, it is a position requiring trust, integrity and knowledge of finance and accounting by the individual selected by the voters,” he said. “The office plays an integral and important role in maintaining the books of record of the county. I cannot overemphasize this point. It has been an honor to serve the citizens of Rockwall County.”
