NEWS Will County Government: First in Nation to Publish AI-Enabled Financial Report New way to publish government financial data for transparent, instantly comparable information JOLIET, IL - Today the office of Will County Auditor Duffy Blackburn announced that Will County has published financial information in a data format that allows artificial intelligence and other software to analyze and compare the county's financial performance. Blackburn is pioneering the use of this reporting with others needing to follow suit. Conventional financial documents cannot be read by software because they do not electronically identify each piece of information. But Will County's newly-published Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for 2018 fiscal year uses data tags to specify each number and line item, including the mathematical relationships between them. "Will County is the first government in the nation to officially publish AI-enabled financial data," said Blackburn. "We are doing this because we want our financial performance to be easily comparable, and even automatically comparable, across time and against other governments'. With software automatically able to illuminate challenges and risk, we are more accountable to our citizens and financial markets." Blackburn's office has published this financial data in its raw form, available for download using a data format called eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL). Blackburn is pioneering the use of this platform for governments as others need to follow suit. Florida's legislature has passed a law requiring all of its local governments to publish electronic financial reports in the same way, but the state government has not yet implemented the law. A similar law has passed in California. On the federal level, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) has introduced the Financial Transparency Act, which would require all state and local government financial statements submitted as part of bond issues to be published in the same data format. "In Florida, in California, and in Congress, lawmakers are getting ready to require all state and local financial information to be AI-enabled," said Blackburn. "But in Will County, we're not waiting for lawmakers to enact a requirement. We agree that publishing our financial information as machine-readable data is the way forward, and our county government decided to lead rather than follow." On Thursday, Oct. 3, Blackburn delivered a keynote address and live tech demo at the Municipal Finance Data Forum at Northern Illinois University's Naperville Campus, sponsored by the XBRL US nonprofit organization, which creates and maintains financial data formats that are used to enable instant analysis of both private-sector and public-sector financial reports. Blackburn's keynote and demo explained the value of standardized data in financial reporting and predicted the benefits of the universal adoption of this innovation, such cost cutting for municipal bond markets and improvements to better government.

Will County Vendor Payments (Archived) This information has been extracted from Will County's legacy finance system. The reports may contain accounting adjustments or reclassifications. One vendor/merchant may be listed more than once due to multiple remittance addresses for the same vendor. Due to fields in the reporting system, the vendor's name or item description of services may be abbreviated. The reports contain information about expenditures of the General Fund, Special Revenue Funds, Debt Service Funds, and Capital Improvement Funds. The following entities are not included in the reports: Will County Forest Preserve District, Will County Public Building Commission The reports contain information which is unaudited. The reports do not contain expenditures categorized as personnel-related or salary information or private or confidential.

Auditor Local Internship Program In this internship program, the Will County Auditor Office continues to develop and expand upon a program that is effective and beneficial. View the INTERN HANDBOOK and please feel free to contact our Office if you have any further questions. Internships are excellent preparation for future jobs and careers in accounting, auditing, government, and business. The Auditor’s Office is looking for students with majors focused in the areas of auditing and accounting. Eligibility requirements vary between colleges/universities. If you are interested, first check with your school's faculty or internship coordinator for requirements and availability. Auditor Intern handbook.pdf

Meet the Staff Staff Bios Cathy Pleasant, CGAP Deputy Auditor Telephone: 815-740-8358 Ms. Pleasant is a Certified Government Auditing Professional (CGAP). She graduated from Loyola University of Chicago with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Public Accounting degree and has 25 years of audit and accounting experience. She has previously worked in a large public accounting firm and a Fortune 500 computer corporation before joining the Will County Auditor's office in 1995. During her 18-year tenure at the Will County Auditor's office, Ms. Pleasant has led forensic investigations which have resulted in convictions, serves as the County trainer for the County's computerized financial system, and administers training and access for the County's Purchasing Card Program, for which she has been a chosen speaker for several national executive training conferences. She sits on the County's Committee for the Automation of Accounting and Financial Reporting. She is an active member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and the Association of Local Government Auditors. She is currently studying for the Certified Fraud Examiners certification exam. Gloria Martinez, CGAP Internal Auditor Telephone: 815-740-4656 Ms. Gloria Martinez joined the Will County Auditor’s Office as a Staff Auditor in March 2010. Ms. Martinez is Certified Governmental Auditing Professional (CGAP). She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Technical Management with an emphasis in Accounting from DeVry University. Some of her current responsibilities include auditing and analyzing the County Procurement Card purchases, bank reconciliation process and testing of receipts, assisting in posting reports to the website and training university interns. She completed an Internship at the Will County Building in the Summer of 2009 for the Treasurer’s Office and the Auditor’s Office. She has 20 years of experience as an Administrative Assistant for the Guidance Office and Principal’s Office at Joliet Township High School, Central Campus. She is an active member of the Chicago Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors and studying for the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) examination. Pat Benson Claims Auditor Telephone: 815-740-4609 Ms. Benson has worked in the Will County Auditor’s Office since February 2003, beginning her tenure as an Accounting Assistant. Her current responsibilities include auditing and analyzing of claims, County wire transactions, County Procurement Card purchases; and supervising and training university interns. Before joining the Will County Auditor’s Office, Pat was employed as a Pharmacy Technician and Office Manager for an Independent Pharmacy. She is a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA).

Audit Hotline Please contact us to report activities that you believe are or may result in waste, fraud, abuse or non-compliance or significant violations of Will County policies, regulations or rules. Example of reportable offenses: theft, fraud, bribery, and kickbacks conflict of interest misuse, waste or abuse of county property or time misappropriation of county resources 3 way s to report 1) You can submit an independent online reporting form: willcountyfraudhotline.integrareport.com 2) You can call independent Hotline by phone: 855-858-3344 3) You can mail a letter and evidence to: Will County Auditor's Office 302 N. Chicago St. Joliet, IL 60432 Whistleblower Protection Click to view: Will County's Whistleblower Protection Ordinance. § 32.069 WHISTLE BLOWER PROTECTION. Click to view: Illinois' Whis tleblower Protection Act. *Reports relating to building code and planning department related violations must be filed with the Will County Land Use department. 815.722.5515 Additional Hotlines: County contacts Election Fraud Hotline - County Clerk Ethics Advisor for Will County - Rolanda Mitchell Code enforcement - Land Use Building Division Legal Self-Help Center - Will County Circuit Court Emergency - Sheriff Non-Emergency (Submit a crime tip) - Sheriff General Frequently Asked Questions - State’s Attorney State contacts Fraud Hotline - Auditor General of the State of Illinois Consumer Fraud Hotlines - Illinois Attorney General Tax Fraud - Illinois Department of Revenue Welfare Fraud - State of Illinois HFS Inspector General Medicaid Fraud - Illinois State Police Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Child Abuse Hotline - State of Illinois Healthcare and Family Services Elder Abuse Hotline - Illinois Department on Aging Other contacts Better Business Bureau - Chicago and Northern Illinois Internet Fraud - FBI Identity Theft - Federal Trade Commission Tax Fraud - Internal Revenue Service Social Security Fraud - SSA Mail Fraud - United States Postal Service StopFraud.gov - Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force Phone Numbers (815) 727-8872 (815) 726-7422 (815) 727-863 911 (815) 727-8575 (815) 727-8405 Phone Numbers (855) 217-1895 (800) 386-5438 (800) 243-2811 (855)213-6973 (888)557-9503 (866) 800-1409 (800) 25-ABUSE Phone Numbers (312) 832-0500 (415) 553-7400 (877) 438-4338 (800) 829-1040 (800) 269-0271 (877) 876-2455 (202) 514-2000 Link willcountylanduse.com/code-enforcement/purpose will.illinoislegalaid.org www.willcosheriff.com/pages/tips/formnew.asp www.willcountysao.com/general-faq.htm Link www.auditor.illinois.gov/Hotline/Hotline.as p www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/consumer s tax.illinois.gov/fraud/index.htm www.state.il.us/agency/oig/reportfraud.asp http://www.isp.state.il.us/crime/medicaidfraud.cfm www.state.il.us/dcfs/child/index.shtml Link chicago.bbb.org www.fbi.gov/majcases/fraud/internetschemes.htm www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/ www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=106778,00.htm l oig.ssa.gov/report-fraud-waste-or-abuse www.uspsoig.gov/investigation.htm www.stopfraud.gov/report.html

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County Auditor Statute 55 ILCS 5/Div. 3.1. Sec 3-1005 Pursuant to the Illinois Compiled Statute 55 ILCS 5/Div. 3.1. Sec. 3-1005 , specifically the County Auditor is required to : (1) Audit all claims against the County; (2) Collect, analyze and preserve statistical and financial information with respect to the cost of operation of the various institutions and facilities maintained, operated or owned by the county ; (3) Maintain a file of all contracts; (4) Audit the receipts of all county officers and departments; (5) Maintain a continuous internal audit of the operations and financial records of the officers, agents, or divisions of the county. (The county auditor shall have access to all records, documents, and resources necessary for the discharge of this responsibility.)