Dana, we have used average retentions on financial records like accounts
receivable records (based on whether the funds were received or deemed
uncollectible) and grant records (based on submission of final audit
documents). Both are tied to larger enterprise audit cycles, and the average
retentions assigned cover the majority of records. However, key to this
are knowledgeable disposition authorities, who know when the few exceptions
occur, and can request a hold on the records for a longer period of time
when receiving our destruction authorization notices. Our destruction
authorization cover letters include the following statement:

“No public records of fiscal transactions shall be destroyed, even when the
minimum retention period has passed, until after the required audit for the
period covered by the record has been completed and the auditor has released
the public records for destruction. If federal funds are involved,
requirements of the United States Government must be observed if they
require longer retention than the state”

To my knowledge, this management by exception has never caused a problem,
and has facilitated the management of large volumes of records - which is
the only reason one would utilize such a tactic. Note, however, that
the variance between average and actual triggered events in the above
examples are relatively short, and the exceptions are few, and far between.

-- 
Dwight Wallis, CRM
Multnomah County Records Management Program
1620 SE 190th Avenue
Portland, OR 97233
ph: (503)988-3741
fax: (503)988-3754
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