Safeguarding your money

I wanted to take a moment to discuss with you the financial security of Westlake Village and how the Board of Directors ensures that the integrity of our finances is ensured.

You may have read lately about a city employee in Safety Harbor who embezzled city funds for personal use or the property manager in Oldsmar who used her position to swindle monies from her employer and up to 20 communities. This is real, frightening, and becoming more of a possibility as our economy continues its’ downturn.

So how do we prevent this from happening in Westlake Village? There are quite a few ways, which I will elaborate on. While I would love to be able to tell you that no employee or Board member has the desire to defraud WLV, this cannot be assured – I am sure the city and the property management firm thought there employees were honest and forthright. So, without the ability to read people’s minds, we have set up safeguards to ensure our finances are protected properly.

First, our finances are audited annually by Spence, Marston, Bunch, Morris, and Co., a reputable CPA firm serving our area for 35 years. Knowing that we have a professional, thorough auditor who knows our finances well is an excellent deterrent for anyone looking to pilfer funds.

Second, our check-signing policy requires 2 signatures of officers of the Board in order to be valid. The bank does a very good job of verifying this. Thus, every check that leaves the office has had 2 Board members review the charge and approve via signature.

Third, it was at the Direction of the Board that we begin using credit cards to accomplish the business of the Village, including admin functions and maintenance of our community. Unfortunately, a Home Depot card and Office Depot card only go so far. These cards have small limits to limit liability and our auditor demands each charge be accompanied by a receipt. These charges are reviewed by the check signers (Board members) regularly before sign off.

Fourth, our insurance policy covers theft and/or criminal misuse of funds up to $1M. Obviously, you never want to use that coverage, but it’s there if we need it.

So, we have some checks and balances built in to our system. The security of your (and our) money is extremely important.