JP 2-1 LINDA SALAZAR PROPOSES OFFICE SLUSH FUND

M. Consideration  and authorization to set up a petty cash fund for Justice of the Peace Precinct 2-1 in the amount of $200 (Linda Salazar, JP 2-1)
PRESENTATIONS, RESOLUTIONS AND/OR PROCLAMATIONS ITEMS:
C. Presentation of proclamation declaring the month of August 2014 as "National Breastfeeding Awareness Month" is (sic) Cameron County. (YS-Health)

By Juan Montoya
Each year, each department head in Cameron County government submits a detailed line-item budget which specifies how that department is going to use the funds that the commissioners court approves to for it to do business and serve the public.
The departments all work within this system and over time have learned to distribute the funds according to the needs of each specific department.
The department budgets contain line items dedicated to employee and department head salaries, professional services, part-time help, machinery, and other more mundane objects like office supplies (staplers, files, paper clips, etc.,), postage, fuel, etc., depending on the mission of each office.
Consequently, all the departments must also comply with the county's acquisition and purchasing policies. For those who have some emergency expenditure (such as in a hurricane, etc,), the purchase order to pay for equipment or service is usually approved after the fact.
The controls for acquisition and expenditures are very specific and outlined in the county's "Purchasing, Requisition, Purchase Order, Quotation Process" by which the county seeks to have control and oversight into the finances of the different departments.
No one, not the courts, not Public Works, not legal, or county commissioners offices have a "petty cash" fund. We remember that the Parks Department was approved for a petty cash fund, but perhaps that's not a good example. After all, the former director resisted the placement of a fiscal control and audit program for gate receipts for years. When the program was finally put in place, those receipts went through the collections booth roof. Now we know why his reluctance.
In this week's agenda of the Cameron County Commissioners Court, Justice of the Peace for Precinct 2, Place 1, Linda Salazar is requesting the court to allow her to set up a $200 petty-cash fund for her court. The meeting will be July 17 (Thursday) at the Dancy Building, 1100 E. Monroe Street at 8:30 a.m.
This request set court watchers wondering why in the world a justice of the peace office would need a $200 fund and for what expenditures.
Would it be to buy stamps, (there's a postage line item), to buy paper clips (there's an office supplies line item), to treat employees to lunch (oops, that's not a legitimate county budge function), to put gas in your car (there's mileage reimbursement and fuel line item, too). Perhaps she wants to have change for people who pay their fines with cash. If so, how has she been managing for the past nine years?
So what possible use could a petty-cash fund have for the office? Payday loans to her employees? A nice lunch at the Vermillion? Those are no-nos, Linda.
Having money laying around with no specific purpose opens up a Pandora's box of temptation for employees. All Salazar has to do is look next door at the two justice of the peace employees with the late Tony Torres to see what results when employees have open access to the till. The investigation into the missing money is ongoing.
And while we're at it, there's still an investigation going into the scam of an employee with Torres' successor accused of taking money in exchange for defendants not doing community service. That investigation is still on and apparently includes referrals from Salazar's office to the office of JP Erin Garcia Hernandez for the, ahem, "service."
We understand that the theft of payments by an employee in the child support collections office under District County Clerk Aurora de la Garza has been resolved with the clerk paying some sort of restitution and placed on probation. It helped that one of her parents was also an assistant District Attorney.
Having a $200 petty-cash fund doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but that places the expenditures from that fund outside the controls and scrutiny of the county's auditors and commissioners. Who will decide what can be purchased with the cash? And if the fund runs out, who will notice that a budget amendment is submitted to replenish it so that the original $200 may mushroom into double or triple that amount?

The county's process is very simple, and Salazar, who has been JP since 2005 (that's nine years and another four to come) worked for 17 years as a court coordinator in the 103rd District Court, should know the budget process and what her office needs by now.
Just as a refresher, here's how it works, Linda.
 "Purchasing, Requisition, Purchase Order, Quotation Process"
"2. Requisition – After completing a requisition and obtaining a purchase order from the Purchasing Department, the requesting department should forward the requisition and remaining copies to the Purchasing Department and retain a copy for its files."
The county even makes it easier to get authorization over the telephone.

"Telephone Authorized Purchase order
 (a) The Purchasing Department will authorize a purchase by telephone and prepare a  purchase order. A purchase order number will be assigned immediately over the  telephone for an employee to use for immediate pick up of the merchandise."

Necessity of Requisition

 A requisition is required for all purchases (Art. 166l, V.T.C.S.). The purpose is twofold: (1) to inform the Purchasing Department of the needs of the requesting department; and, (2) to identify  correctly and clearly the material requested. Requisitions must be prepared well in advance to  Enable the department requesting to solicit a vendor and to allow for delivery by the vendor." 

FUND/DEPARTMENT NUMBER and BUDGET LINE ITEM: 

"Identify, according to  County budget classifications, the fund/department number from the department making  the purchase. Designate, according to County budget classifications, the department’s budget line item against which the purchase should be charge. (see Exhibit C to this manual).

So far, apparently, the process has worked well with every other department and office in Cameron County. What makes the JP 2-1 JP office under Linda different?