March 28, 2007
"Ferries can't account for cash"
Another boost to the faith of Washingtonians in their state government.
OLYMPIA - A new state audit has found a very old problem for Washington State Ferries - it doesn't know whether any of the millions of dollars paid by riders is missing.
"It might be zero. It could be some huge amount," said state Auditor Brian Sonntag, who released the report Friday.
"We're not saying we know how much money is missing. We're saying the ferries department cannot identify if any is missing," he said.
Sigh.
Posted by Eric Earling at March 28, 2007
07:07 AM | Email This
1. I cotinnue to have faith in my government.
I'm sure our staunch leadership will stand up and declare the buck stops here!
OH...no...wait...it stops here!
Nooo...here!
Yes, definately here.
Or maybe over there. That's it! Its over there.
What? There's TWO bucks??? Well, that means it could stop here and there!
And talk about growth! We've gone from $1.00 to $2.00. Dang...thats...uummm...a 150% increase. Better tax it and use it for our skools.
2. In previous years, Sonntag has reported that there has been theft down at the till at the ferry docks. That likely means by public employee union members! I've written to Gregoire's office asking what she intends to do about it.
I got no reponse.
3. When I ran for State Rep in 1998 it took me about an hour to find the ferry system had spent--without any accountability--over $1.5 million dollars. However that fact was drowned out by the d's calling me a rightwing, anti "choice", homophobic, Christian, pro gun nut who was not fit to shine the shoes of a union man and my political "career" was over.
It took several years before laws requiring performance audits were passed by the Republicans in Olympia even with the state Locke-d up. Brian Sonntag is a good man and he doesn't let politics get into the way.
4. Wait a minute... you're a pro-gun nut?
5. Where is the application line to become a cashier for the ferry ticket counter? With no one knowing where the money goes, it is an attractive job with a high cash incentive.
6. The citizens of Washington deserve this.
Rather than demand that State Government be held accountable for dollars already spent, citizens vote for a 9-1/2 cent/gallon gas tax increase.
Perpetual tax increases allow bureaucracies to hide from accountability.
The only way to rein in State Government is to turn the tax increase spigot off.
I believe State Government, funded with PUBLIC FUNDS, should set the example for how families ought to handle their finances. Sadly, folks seem to follow the lead by living off "shell-games" like ARM's, Home Equity loans, Credit Card shuffles where you get new cards to pay off old balances...and other assorted nonsense.
What do you think would happen if funds were ratcheted back like making your carburetor sputter and then barely giving it enough gas to run??
This is yet another example of Leadership Meltdown. Doesn't the buck stop with the Governor??
7. I wonder if their accounting is similar to education accounting. There have been a couple of school districts, Seattle, Shoreline and others that have gotten into trouble because the system of accounting is so arcane. This will never happen, but public accounting should be made more transparent so that it more closely resembles accounting for a large business entity. Because government units can continually ask the public to bail them out, effciency of operation is not a primary concern. Best examples are universities, who continually ask more tutition and subsidies. The parents and students pay because it is the ticket into society and government pays because every state wants to be competitive. I wish someone like Sonntag would run for governor. I wish a lot of Sonntags would run for the legislature. A more efficient government would actually produce more revenue and a better business climate as well as better schools.
8. Let's make a deal:
You guys help find that $8.8B ($8,800,000,000.00) in cash that got lost in Iraq without even handing out receipts. Remember the "footballs" of $100s?
Then the rest of the Western Hemisphere will be concerned about this chump change. Mustard money for the hot dog.
Until there is some proportional examination, this stuff is all yammerage.
10. Maybe Sarbanes-Oxley should be applied to state and local government agencies' financial matters. If it's OK to beat the cr*p out of publicly-traded companies (without any evidence of wrong-doing), why isn't it OK to kick the dog**** out of state and local government agencies when such agencies are clearly inept in financial controls.
11. the Simsflu is infecting others...
12. frankHalliburton:
You make the typical secular progressive logical fallicy in an argument. Take an instance of potential or actual wrongdoing and you argue with an example of another potential or actual instance of wrongdoing. Secular progressives argue in this manner because they are moral relativists and can't imagine instances of universals. A couple of questions:
1. Is corruption wrong?
2. Is corruption wrong only if the other side
is accused of corruption?
3. Do you want systems in place at whatever level
of government that assure accountability and
efficiency?
Is it only when corruption benefits secular progressives that it is OK. I think corruption is wrong period because I am not a secular progressive nor conserverative troglidite.
13. Regatrding the new electronic ticketing system, the head of IT for the ferry system was asked directly during a fare increase public meeting in Kingston, how much the system cost to implement. The answer - 12.5 million dollars. When asked what kind of return on investment was expected, he stated, "that is simply not a consideration."
14. I'm inclined to believe that Dean Logan had something to do with this. No wonder he left town!
15. The electronic fare system is a step in the right direction. If you want to eliminate fraud and reconcile ticket revenue, you need technology to do it. The ferries simply couldn't do it with the paper frequent user ticket books. It was too easy for a ticket taker to simply take the ticket and let the driver go through and never ring up that transaction. There was also nothing at the booth which signaled a warning if a driver went through after paying a fare, but that fare was not rung up. Also, when you pass through a ticket booth, that does not mean you are traveling on the next sailing - it just means you've bought a ticket - so how do you know which fares are on which sailing? How can you possibly reconcile revenue with such a system?
As for ROI on the electronic system, they cannot determine now how their revenue is accounted for, so how would they know how much a system that implements tighter controls would save? My guess is "not that much" unless you believe there is rampant fraud going on at the ticket booths. The electronic fare system is more about public trust and passing state audits than it is about ROI.
16. #8. You enabling dipshit. You ignore corruption in your own state so you can enjoy your favorite hate. You stink of corruption yourself. You smell like a stinking piece of shit beurocrat; don't want to see any of your sweet situation messed with do you, you nasty little piece of dog offal. Take care of what you can dumbass. Maybe if we clean up this broken sewer, we can work on other problems. Not that you want to, you lover of big ineffective government.
17. What's the big deal? DOT officials obviously tolerate this same accountability & quality in their personal bank accounts and side businesses.
Hire all the Tribes' casino money counters. I'll bet they don't miss a cent.
...and the voting public snoozes on...
18. Palouse, if this technology cannot pay for itself through more accurate accounting, reduction in staffing, and generally improved efficiency in operations, then it should never have been developed. The fact is there has been no cost benefit analysis on this. That is typical.
That's the next thing the state auditor needs to dig in to.
19. if this technology cannot pay for itself through more accurate accounting, reduction in staffing, and generally improved efficiency in operations, then it should never have been developed.
I see your point, but that's alot to ask, especially when they really have no idea how much revenue they are losing due to fraud BECAUSE of the limitations on the existing revenue collection system. I'm sure they could make up a number, but it would just be a guess. The electronic system is not going to reduce the number of ticket collectors because they still need to be there to ensure transactions are processed correctly and for cash/credit transactions. The new fare system might improve efficiency of getting people through the toll booth, but I doubt you can quantify that into something that produces an ROI. That leaves public trust - what is that worth? Maybe it's worth $12.5 million, I don't know.
20. mandate ANYONE involved with the cash handling systems PERSONAL and/or SHARED responsibility for the money. like a cashier in a grocery. you'd see a self-policing system in place pronto. someone screws up, the whole team gets their paycheck banged. when it gets personal, it gets fixed.
21. I have no idea how those bundles of cash wrapped if foil ended up in my freezer! Really!
Privatize the stupid ferry system for Pete's sake.
22. The ferry system has had a continuing problem with the cash system they have been using. Don't know why they can't set up a system that is more secure, has a paper trail & can be balanced against usuage.
Just another example of incompetence in the public systems of Washington State & another reason to vote down tax increases. There probably isn't a single state agency that could not find a way to improve their accounting so that they could reduce their budgets by at least 15-20%.
23. They probably could have solved the whole problem with one simple solution that would not cost a penny. Have every car/driver produce a receipt in order to board the ferry. Then you can reconcile every boarding to your fare revenue. No receipt - no boarding. They would have to work out issues with throughput and get people used to producing their receipts, but if drivers know their receipt is their "ticket" to board, lost receipts won't be that big of a problem.
But considering how old the ferry system is, they were probably due for a technology upgrade. Especially if they wanted to integrate with the regional smart card and have internet trip purchases.
24. 12 & 16.
Nope, nope, huh?, and not at all.
Read the original post and try REAL hard to consider its intent. There have been a grand total of roughly (0) zero national Republicans and/or so-called "conservatives" who have even officially questioned the 360 tons o' cash missing.
If more would do so with your same zeal over the mustard money for the hot dog, there would be some credibility on your part. When the voters look at this, they draw the same conclusion that I have.
Until some of the remaining honest Republicans on the national or even state or local scene start on this gargantuan waste of money in the Middle East, there will be ZERO credibility on your side. By the way, the $8.8B is only the first out of the >$1T eventual cost.
Anybody remember when they told us that Iraq would refinance their own reconstruction?
Anybody remember Rummy telling us how easy it was gonna be?
Anybody remember Cheney telling us that it was only a few rogue fellers hanging on?
Therefore, the original accusation stands:
Yammerage.
I'll lower the analogy to see if you can understand. The football coach, after his 88-2 loss, complains about the missed offside call in the 4th quarter when the score is "only" 65-0.
25. Try to stay on topic Frank - this thread is not about the Iraq war. If there's wasted money there, we all oppose that waste too, mmkay?
26. Hello Frank--
I really appreciate your posts.
They encapsulate the biggest problem in government today....."irrational rationization."
Meaning, you rationalize unaccountable, over the top spending on 1 project by saying look at what these guys did on another project.
See the mobius loop we are in??
27. Hello Frank--
I really appreciate your posts.
They encapsulate the biggest problem in government today....."irrational rationalization."
Meaning, you rationalize unaccountable, over the top spending on 1 project by saying look at what these guys did on another project.
See the mobius loop we are in??
28. Don't worry about Frank, it's just our old friend Jim Hughes slipping slowly off of his meds again. How's Lori doing Jimbo? Still confused about who you really are?
29. Libertarian @ 10
Great Idea! But there is too much clout blocking that kind of implementation. HOWEVER, a new Statement on Auditing Standards will be effective within the next year (SAS 112) that will require auditors to report more clearly those control deficiencies that allow these kinds of frauds to happen. The State Auditor's Office (SAO) is a reporting agency - not an enforcement agency - and cannot literally force any governmental entity to change its habits. The only stick the SAO has is the possibility of a reporting a Finding (the highest level of reporting), which governmental entities around here fight tooth-and-nail to minimize. And there is "word on the street" that local governments are very nervous about this new SAS because they believe they will be on the receiving end of more Findings. So I wish SOX would be applied to State and local governments, but that won't happen anytime soon.
Just FYI.
30. Kingstoncommuter @ 18
The cost-benefit analysis (or lack thereof) would be a performance audit issue, not a part of the annual financial and accountability audit of the ferry system. You might want to suggest that to the State Auditor's Performance Audit team.
31. Palouse @ 23
Part of the fraud a couple years ago at the ferry terminals downtown included fake receipts. A customer would go through, not get a receipt, and not complain. The next person who went through and did not get a receipt and complained would then be given the receipt for the prior customer. The cash from that transaction would then be pocketed.
So showing a receipt would not always be the best solution because so many irrelevant and fake receipts could be saved up by a cashier that it would make no difference.
32. years of lax cash control. no one fired. top DOT guy even jokes about it. is that bold arrogance, total ignorance or both? a kid's lemonade stand has better internal controls.
...and the voters snoozed on:
"...it's not bubbling up in MY yard!..."
"...MY bank account is balanced..."
then don't whine about your taxes.
33. Michael H - if
every customer were required to
submit their receipt in order to board the vessel, that would solve the problem. No receipt - no boarding. That would solve the problem of the cashier not giving a customer the receipt, because if that customer doesn't have it, he doesn't board. The receipts could be collected by someone prior to physical boarding and then tallied. Those receipts can then be reconciled to the fare revenue from cashier reports. If they don't match, then they know there's an issue.
Of course you could have an issue where the customer says "the cashier never gave me a receipt" or something like that, but then those instances can be researched or camera film reviewed to see if there was fraud.