The Riverside County Auditor-Controller is an independent, nonpartisan elected office established to provide various accounting and property tax administration services to the County government, special districts, schools, and cities. The Auditor-Controller is the chief accounting and disbursement officer of the county responsible for budget control, disbursements and receipts, and financial reporting. In addition, this office is responsible for audits of all departments and certain agencies within the county’s jurisdiction.
The accounting/auditing authority and responsibilities of the Auditor-Controller are generally defined in the California Government Code. The Auditor-Controller establishes the accounting policies and procedures for county government. Specifically, this position is responsible for budget control, issuing warrants (checks) for payments, recording receipts of revenues, payroll, accounting for assets and liabilities such as fixed assets, accounts receivable/payable, long-term debt, and preparation of the county's financial statements (CAFR). Key divisions include general accounting, payroll, audits and specialized accounting, and property tax.
In the area of auditing, the Auditor-Controller’s staff performs bi-annual audits of all departments within the County jurisdiction of the Board of Supervisors. The Auditor-Controller is responsible for ensuring that certain mandatory audits are performed periodically by either internal staff or contracted certified public accountants. Examples of mandatory audits include: special districts, county treasury, courts, probation, child development, tax collector and joint power agencies.
In accordance with various Government, Revenue and Taxation, Education, and Health and Safety Code Sections, the Auditor-Controller is also responsible for property taxation administration. These specific duties include: controlling the tax roll, calculating the tax and general obligation bond rates, accounting for property tax receipts, allocating property tax revenues to all taxing agencies, and reconciling with the tax collector. The Property Tax Division apportions $3.2 billion annually to 350 participants, including cities, special districts and school districts.
In the Payroll Department, responsibilities include issuing more than 18,000 pay checks bi-weekly grossing $50 million –- or, $1.3 billion annually. On a bi-weekly basis, this figure includes nearly $2 million in State taxes, $10 million in Federal taxes, and $6 million in CalPERS (pension plan).
In the General Accounting Division, more than 500,000 payments are issued annually. All of these payments are audited before they are approved. Other key responsibilities in the General Accounting Division are cash management, budgetary control, vendor validation, year-end reporting, and the annual financial report involving extensive analyses and roll up of countywide financial transactions (CAFR). The CAFR is validated by an outside independent CPA firm.
