State converts check printing to electronic system

Everyone from state employees to vendors providing services to different agencies will see a completely new look in checks issued by the state of Nevada beginning Monday.

Controller Kathy Augustine said the new laser check printing system will greatly simplify the process and cut out many steps that are now manual.

Mark Taylor, Augustine's deputy, said it will also improve security and cut the different types of check stock the state buys from three to one.

Data Processing Manager Alex Echo said the existing system is much more complicated, beginning with check stock that has to be kept in a vault. Once a check is printed, it is hand-carried to the Capitol where the treasurer's signature is added, following which it is manually folded, put in an envelope and mailed.

The new system takes blank stock - which doesn't have to be kept in a vault - and prints everything in one step including the magnetic bank account numbers at the bottom of each check and the signatures. The treasurer's office reviews the checks electronically before they are printed. Afterward, another machine folds and seals the checks, effectively turning each check into its own envelope. Even the postage will be cheaper using First Class Presorting.

Echo said the printers each cost $3,000 - which is less than the $5,000 a year it costs just to maintain the old check printer. The controller's office was able to buy three of them so checks would continue to go out on schedule even if one breaks down.

Thousands of payments are printed by the state each month for everything from payroll and expense checks for employees, vendor payments and rebates for seniors. Echo said nearly 85 percent of state employees have direct deposit and don't receive a check. But the new system also prints their bi-weekly notice telling how much was deposited to their account.

Taylor said the office is hoping many more vendors will opt for direct deposit under the new system. They also anticipate that most of those notices will be direct deposit to e-mail instead of a printed notice. The goal is to become progressively more "paperless."

Augustine said the new system should reduce overall costs of producing, issuing and accounting for the thousands of checks her office issues monthly.

-- Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.