04.30.24 Town Council Meeting Presentation Work SessionWelcome to the April 30, 2024,
Prosper Town Council Work Session
Call to Order/Roll Call
Agenda Item 1.
Discussion to seek direction on items on the Town Council request list.
(MC)
Agenda Item 2.
Discussion regarding internal controls and business continuity. (BS)
Prosper’s Two Big People Challenges
1.Succession- How do we maintain our momentum,
productivity, institutional knowledge, skills and
effectiveness when turnover occurs?
2.Growth-How do we expand employee count 93% in
just six years and still retain our core values,
corporate culture, camaraderie, teamwork and
strong sense of purpose and direction?
Internal Control Initiatives
•The Town is in the process of creating a culture of
professionalism and strong controls utilizing the COSO
Integrated Framework of Internal Controls.
•COSO defines internal controls as:
“The process, policies and procedures employed by the
directors, management and other personnel to achieve the
organization’s goals in the areas of operations, compliance
and financial reporting”
COSO Cube
•Five elements all necessary to create a comprehensive system
•All elements address all three categories of objectives
•All elements must also cut both vertically and horizontally across the organization
•Flow of the elements are top down with monitoring activities creating the feedback loop.
COSO Principles
Control Environment-Principle 4 Points of Emphasis
•Principle 4- The organization demonstrates a commitment to
attract, develop and retain competent individuals in alignment
with objectives.
A.Establishes policies and practices
B.Evaluates competence and addresses shortcomings
C.Attracts, develops and retains individuals
D.Plans and prepares for succession
Succession Planning/Business Continuity
•As a provider of public safety and other essential services, the
Town is taking a comprehensive approach to succession
planning to include business continuity.
•Current and Future Initiatives include:
•In-house training to improve competency, leadership skills and
consistency throughout Town (i.e. two internal control classes taught to
date, outsourcing and contract administration training, leadership
training)
•Budget emphasis on specialty training and technical skills that will help
employees move up in the organization
•Annual compensation review and surveys to attract and retain new
personnel
Succession Planning/Business Continuity
•Comprehensive review and revision of administrative and
personnel policies to better reflect size of the town.
•Many financial related policies have been revised in last two years
•Personnel and other employee policies will be reviewed and revised by
new HR Director.
•Improving documentation of job duties and cross-training of
positions
•2025 budget will contain funds for technical writer to assist in documenting
specific job duties by position
•Job descriptions will then be used for both cross -training and improving
the job documentation.
•Development of Department–Wide Calendars to capture deadlines and
workflow needs
Succession Planning/Business Continuity
•SPF (Single Point of Failure) Analysis for both people and
systems
•With hiring of full-timer emergency management coordinator:
•Enhancement of emergency annexes to assist in disaster recovery.
•Table-Top exercise to simulate the failure of one or more IT related
systems due to natural disaster or cyber-attack including:
•Prioritization of systems
•Ability to continue operations using paper or other alternative means including PC
based software
•Ability to input and restore data as system functionality is restored.
The Town Council will reconvene after Executive
Session.
Reconvene into Work Session
Adjourn