After receiving $4.4 million worth of bad checks in 2018, Governor Albert Bryan has signed an executive order giving the Dept. of Finance the responsibility to ascertain that check verification systems are being utilized throughout the government’s departments and agencies, in a move that seeks to minimize the risk of receiving non-sufficient funds checks.
That’s according to a release Government House issued Thursday. The administration further revealed that the government has received $3 million in non-sufficient funds checks in 2019.
Dept. of Finance Commissioner Kirk Callwood said the move represented yet another lever of fiscal control while building on fulfilling Mr. Bryan’s promise of stabilizing and restoring trust in the central government.
“This is a great example of the administration’s push to facilitate the widespread use of technology as an enabler to mitigating risk and managing costs,” Mr. Callwood said.
According to Government House, the executive order also gives D.O.F. the authority to order any agency to use check verification services, making it the sole agency that can procure check verification systems for agencies and departments.
Any agency ordered by D.O.F. to use a check verification system cannot refuse to use such a system without the written consent of the Finance commissioner or sitting governor.
Also, according to the order, no other agencies are authorized or enabled to procure such services. Any agency that was ordered to use a check verification system and receives NSF checks that qualify for but were not inputted into the system can lose the value of the NSF checks in future agency monetary releases or appropriations, Government House said.
The order, which Acting Governor Tregenza A. Roach and Acting Lieutenant Governor Novelle Francis Jr. signed on October 29, went into effect immediately.
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