2012 Budget Book.indd - Metra

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E ective Stewardship, continued
Internal Process
Improvement
Due to serious abuses uncovered in the executive
director’s o ce in 2010, the Metra Board tasked
the accounting rm Blackman Kallick to perform
a risk assessment and control analysis. The Metra
Board also acted quickly, through ordinance, to
establish an O ce of Inspector General (OIG) and
charged it with investigating any allegations of
fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement by the
Metra Board, employees and contractors. The rm
of Hillard Heintze LLC, was engaged to create this
o ce and act as interim OIG.
In addition, the Board formed a nancial practices
and reporting review committee, a compensation
committee, and an executive committee to review
governance and oversight of the executive director’s
o ce. Ordinances were also passed to formalize
policies on special contributions to employee
401(k) plans, non-contract employment conditions,
nepotism and whistle-blowing.
While Blackman Kallick and Hillard Heintze’s uncovered
no evidence of widespread abuse or fraud
at the agency, their activities identi ed several key
areas for improvement within Metra relating to
organizational structure, the hiring and promotion
process, information technology, compensation
and bene ts, employee discipline, leadership,
Metra police, strategic planning and ethics.
Metra’s new management team has made signi -
cant progress in following up on these recommendations.
Organizational Issues
• The CEO’s o ce updated the organizational structure
re ected in the chart on page 15.
• A sta committee has been formed to review noncontract
classi cation and compensation and will
be reporting its ndings in 2012.
• The Human Resources Department is in the process
of developing an RFP for a comprehensive noncontract
classi cation and compensation study.
• A sta committee has been formed and will continue
work in 2012 on revision of the non-contract
employee handbook.
• Work has also begun on succession planning, risk
assessment, audit and controls.
Process, Hiring,
Promotions
• Metra has drafted policies to formalize and ensure
that a fair and competitive process is place for all
hiring and promotions.
• The Finance and Operations departments will
continue analysis of high-overtime groups to determine
the cost-bene t of hiring new employees
versus paying overtime.
• Established policies for non-contract salary and
equity adjustments.
• Established more rigorous review and sign-o
policies for all manual overtime entries by contract
employees.