Skip to main content
Controller-Treasurer Department
Controller-Treasurer Department

About us

The Controller-Treasurer Department fulfills the functions of Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer.

Mission

The Controller-Treasurer Department promotes the County's financial health by managing its accounting systems and assets with integrity.

The department aims to:

  • Disburse funds in accordance with applicable laws, contracts, and County policies.
  • Invest County assets in accordance with the law and approved investment policies.
  • Safeguard assets by developing and implementing appropriate accounting practices and ensuring compliance with those practices.
  • Maintain accounts, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, showing financial transactions of all County departments and districts whose funds are kept in the County Treasury

Department overview

The department is organized into the following groups:

The Department provides accurate, complete, and timely financial records and reports and manages and controls disbursements and deposits for accuracy, timeliness, and cash management. Among its comprehensive accounting duties, the Department apportions interest earnings, ensures compliance with state and federal reporting requirements and generally accepted governmental accounting principles, and coordinates and completes the annual single audit and the production of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.

The Department is responsible for the countywide Cost Allocation Plan, reviewing countywide fees and charges, and submitting to the state claims under SB 90, which requires the state to reimburse local governments for cost of services mandated by the state.

The Department processes and monitors payments to vendors, including employee claims for travel expenses and education reimbursement expenses. It also performs reviews of departmental vendor payments and transactions incurred by County procurement-card holders.

The Department processes payments of County funds to employees on time and in accordance with laws, regulations, procedures, and contractual provisions. Payment processing includes the issuance of payroll to employees on a biweekly basis and the reporting, collection, and subsequent remittance of payroll earnings, taxes, and deductions. Responsibilities also include the establishment, training, and monitoring of procedures and guidelines related to County pay practices to ensure compliance with the law, County policies, and prudent expenditure of public funds.

The Department allocates and distributes property taxes accurately and timely to taxing entities, including the County, school districts, cities, and special districts. It also performs the extension of the annual tax roll in accordance with the California Revenue and Taxation Code §260. The extension requires the certification of the assessment roll from the Office of the Assessor, State Board of Equalization, computed annual bond debt rates approved by the Board of Supervisors, placement of special assessments, and reconciliation of the extended tax roll prior to certifying to the tax collector for tax bill printing, mailing, and collecting.

The Tax Roll Control function includes processing corrections to the tax rolls and supplemental tax roll changes throughout the year, which requires thorough analysis to allow cancellation of existing tax bills, re-issuance of tax bills, refunds of over-payments, or additional tax bills.

Treasury invests County assets in accordance with State Code and the County's investment policy. The Investment Unit works to maximize the interest earnings on funds belonging to the County, school districts, and special districts while ensuring the safety of principal and maintenance of liquidity. The Debt Management Unit issues and administers the County's long-term debt. It also manages debt service payments on the County's long-term debt as well as the general obligation bonds issued by school districts and special districts.