Evergreen Solutions, LLC, is a private company categorized under Business Management Consultants and located in Tallahassee, Fla. Records show it was established in 2004 and incorporated in Florida. Current estimates show that the company has an annual revenue of $1 to $2.5 million and employs a staff of approximately five to nine. Dr. Linda Recio is president of the company and has been on site of and on throughout the entire audit process. Evergreen was also the same consulting company that conducted the Duplin County Schools audit and therefore did not include that report and recommendations in the current audit.
An executive summary will be provided after the draft report is reviewed and will be a part of the final report. The fiscal impact summary will also be a part of the final submission and it therefore not included in the draft as well. The audit draft is comprised of 12 chapters. Issues addressed in the report include county administration and leadership, financial management, personnel and human resources management, technology, the health department, the social services department as well as other county departments and issues.
According to the introduction of the report, Duplin County has approximately 53,600 residents and is a “growing residential and commercial community that is realizing the challenges of effective administration and management while operating in a fiscally responsible manner.”
Evergreen prepared the report in two phases with the first phase reviewing existing reports and data sources followed by a diagnostic assessment that included interviews with county leaders, county commissioners and department heads. The next step included conducting a public hearing to gather more data and establishing a website for additional county residential comments.
The second phase was the nuts and bolts of actually conducting analyses with comparison counties, visiting county facilities, a second public hearing, conducting the formal on-site review with a team of eight Evergreen consultants and finally preparing the draft and final reports.
Evergreen collected all relevant data to analyze and then conducted a diagnostic review that was extensive. For the purpose of any comparative analysis, four counties were selected because they possessed similar demographic characteristic to Duplin. Those four counties were Bladen, Columbus, Lenoir and Sampson.
In the much detailed draft, the management consultants list a huge number of findings in which they make suggested recommendations with the fiscal impact included. One such finding reported the county did have a five-year strategic plan to tie together all departments, administrative units and leadership which is linked to the budget process. Even though the county has done a five-year plan covering the last 15 years it has not been embraced in particular by the commissioners with one member stating that they were not aware that a strategic plan existed although its goals are displayed on the wall of the Commission Room. Evergreen recommended that the county develop a comprehensive five-year plan with realistic goals that can be fully implemented.
The Duplin Finance office was commended by Evergreen for several items One was for its effective and efficient leadership including cross-training to finance office employees that eliminates uninterrupted operations when employees are absent.
Duplin’s Health Department also received several commendations one was for keeping the total public health budget stable while expanding services and for having strong leadership that is well-managed department.
The draft document provides a multitude of findings and recommendations. What is left know is for Evergreen Solutions to complete the audit following the county’s review and present the final version to the commissioners. The board’s action in regards to implementation will be the true test of the value of the audit.
To contact Billy Todd, call 910-592-8137 ext. 117 or e-mail sigeneral@myclintonnc.com.
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