Adopt Revenue Receipting Policy as an Addendum to the City of Fort Worth Financial Policy Statements and Authorize Incorporation of this Policy Into the Overall Financial Management Policy Document (ALL COUNCIL DISTRICTS)

It is recommended that the City Council:

1.  Adopt the attached policy governing revenue receipting, cash handling, payment reconciliation and reporting as an addendum to the City's Financial Management Policy Statements; and

2.  Authorize the incorporation of this policy into the Financial Management Policy Statements, including the making of non-substantive formatting changes and similar modifications or annotations.    

This Mayor and Council Communication (M&C) contains some of the revisions that Staff committed to bring forward when the re-adoption of the Financial Management Policy Statements (FMPS) and revision of the gas-related revenue and expenditure/expense policy were presented on November 1, 2016 (M&C G-18872).  Proposed revisions are the result of Staff's comprehensive review of both the FMPS and the Investment Policy and Strategy and other changes that are currently being finalized will follow via M&C in the coming weeks.

This particular M&C seeks approval of a policy governing revenue receipting, cash handling, payment reconciliation and reporting as an addendum to be incorporated into the FMPS.

The objectives of this policy are to ensure consistent revenue receipting practices within the City of Fort Worth (City) and to safeguard against loss, unauthorized use, or misappropriation of assets.  Controls are created to establish, maintain and enforce a sound system of operational procedures in accordance with industry best practices and internal control objectives.  These controls address the decentralized nature of the receipting function and the associated depositing process while providing for standardized training and a periodic review of cash collected and reported.

Adoption of the recommended new policy is in alignment with industry best practices, which were studied in connection with the formulation of this policy.  In addition, this policy is intended to address opportunities for improvements discovered during Internal Audit's review of the prior Cash Handling Policy.  One purpose of the internal audit was to determine whether existing internal controls were effective and adequate to properly govern cash handling use.  The new policy will improve internal controls by more clearly outlining responsibilities of the cash handler and his or her supervisors, mandating training to start and continue in cash handling and provide clear guidance of situations in which cash is handled.

This M&C does not request approval of a contract with a business entity.