February 2019

Important Dates	Important Messages	Small Agency Financial Services News	Travel Tips	Contact Us

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Important Dates

Feb. 25

• Monthly Department of Revenue (DOR) Use Tax Filing due.

Mar. 1

• Special Open Enrollment for Long Term Disability (Mar 1-Mar 31)

Mar. 7

• To reflect in your agency's monthly financial statements, all invoices and travel reimbursement requests are due to Accounts Payable.

Mar. 26

• Monthly Department of Revenue (DOR) Use Tax Filing due.

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Important Messages

Special Open Enrollment for Long Term Disability (LTD)

All state employees have, or shortly will be, receiving notification via mail regarding a special open enrollment for long term disability (LTD). This is a one-time open enrollment opportunity from March 1, 2019 through March 31, 2019. During this time, PEBB subscribers can enroll in Optional LTD or decrease/increase their waiting period without providing evidence of insurability. If employees are interested in taking advantage of this one-time opportunity, have them be on the lookout for the Long-Term Disability One-time Open Enrollment/Change Form that will be made available March 1 on the HCA website.

There are also a few other changes coming to LTD in 2019. There will no longer be a 30-day or a 60-day waiting period. Anyone who currently has these waiting periods must switch to a 90-day waiting period or longer by December 31, 2019. The shorter waiting periods are being replaced by the Paid Family & Medical Leave program.

For any additional questions, please reach out to our benefits specialist Whitney Brabant at whitney.brabant@des.wa.gov or (360) 407-8036 or the PEBB program directly at 1-800-200-1004.

Washington State Auditor's Office (SAO) new website

The new and improved website from SAO is up and running. You can visit it now at sao.wa.gov.

SAO built this site for you – the user. It has been completely redesigned based on feedback from users, offering a superior experience, while retaining the information and resources their visitors rely on.

Here are links to some important pages on the new website.

• BARS Cash Manual
• BARS GAAP Manual
• Login for Client Services
• Search Audit Reports
• How to Report a Concern
• The Center for Government Innovation

They have added engaging new pages too, such as:

• Interactive map of governments
• Anatomy of an Audit
• Office Locations
• Featured Performance Audit Report

State's Enterprise Applications transitioned to OFM

A complete list of the state's enterprise applications that transitioned from WaTech to OFM on January 1, 2019 is available here. Moving these applications places the operational responsibility with the OFM business owners. This move will also create better alignment with the One Washington business transformation program.

OFM's goal is to leverage their existing relationships with agencies to better meet your business needs. The only difference you should see in this transition is that your quarterly invoices will come from OFM beginning in April. If you have questions or suggestions, please contact Chris Lamb at (360) 407-2672 or Dan McConnon at (360) 407-2670.

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Small Agency Financial Services News

DES Payroll statistics for Jan. 2019

• 24 New Hires/Rehires
• 2 Transfer In/Transfer Outs
• 8 Separations
• 3 Walk Throughs
• 1 Overpayment

DES Accounts Payable statistics for Jan. 2019

• 2,701 payments ($8,182,096) were processed.
• 2,522 non-travel invoices ($8,144,789) processed.
• 179 travel and other reimbursements for employees and board members/commissioners ($37,307) processed.
• 12 percent of the non-travel invoices were paid using delegated authority letters provided by agencies.
• 82 percent of the travel and other reimbursements were submitted and processed through the Travel and Expense Management System (TEMS).

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Travel Tips

SAAM travel rules can sometimes be confusing, and creating a travel policy may seem daunting. But SAFS AP is here to help! Following recent communications regarding options for board member and commissioner travel, SAFS AP has been able to assist agencies in creating policy templates and updating policy content. If this sounds like something your agency could benefit from, please contact SAFS AP at 360-407-8183 or travel.safs@des.wa.gov.

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Contact Us

If you have suggestions or feedback about the Small Agency Services Bulletin, please send your comments to SmallAgencyBulletin@des.wa.gov.

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