PUBLISHED BY THE REPORTER

The Solano County grand jury believes the county can return $10,000 of rarely used "petty cash funds" to the treasury.

In a review of the county's petty cash funds, the grand jury noted that the money serves the same purpose as the purchase/credit cards now used by the county departments and offices.

In theory, petty cash "enables departments to make small purchases in a cost-effective manner." However, the implementation of a purchase/credit card program in 1999 rendered county petty cash funds obsolete.

The grand jury noted that petty cash funds in excess of $3,000 must be approved by the Solano County Board of Supervisors, yet it couldn't find a resolution that authorized Health and Social Services' $3,900 fund to exceed the threshold.

Its survey also showed some discrepancies in four departments. It recommends that the Auditor-Controller's Office identify and correct the errors or discrepancies, that the county administrator bring the Health and Social Services into compliance with policy and that the auditor-controller require self-assessment for cash controls be completed by all departments and offices with petty cash.

The full report is available online at www.solanocourts.com.