other questions

1.) Q Why do I no longer get notified when I am reimbursed for travel expenses through direct deposit?

A With the implementation of MARS, if an employee's payroll check is Direct Deposit, his/her travel check will automatically be Direct Deposited. Travel direct deposits (i.e. related to an ADVANTAGE Travel Payment Document) are issued through the ADVANTAGE disbursement process. This process does not generate remittance notifications for direct deposits. The MARS Team is aware of the concern regarding lack of notification of direct deposit for travel and is working on providing a password-protected electronic or voice-activated notifier as part of a new web-based travel subsystem which the team is currently looking into. For now, if an employee prefers to get a paper check for travel reimbursement, he/she can check "yes" in the "single check yes/no" field on the travel voucher (MARS 34). The agency fiscal officer would then enter that on-line on a Vendor Payment Voucher (P1). The options on checks are:

Treasury mailed check
Treasury held check for pick up by agency
check returned to the agency for distribution to employees

Of these three options, we recommend Treasury mailed checks (category GT on the P1 document the fiscal officer fills out). Doing this does not affect direct deposit of your payroll check. (Payroll direct deposits are issued through the check writer process. This process does generate remittance notifications for direct deposits. Block 50 checks are supplemental payroll and, therefore, WILL NOT be Direct Deposit.)

2.) Q Have MARS policies and procedures been finalized? Which policies & procedures have changed?

A MARS Procedures, which detail the steps involved in managing the system, are available at http://www.state.ky.us/agencies/adm/mars/policy_and_procedures.htm on the MARS web page. MARS Procedures are posted for the following:

Fixed Assets
General Accounting
Inventory
Purchasing and Payables
Project Billing and Job Costing Procedures
Capital Construction/Capital Projects MARS Procedures

Until MARS is fully stabilized, these procedures will be marked as "Draft". These drafts are, in fact, solid guidelines that have undergone very little change since posting. Substantial changes are not expected. MARS Policies represent proposed changes to Administrative Regulations that are required by the transition from the old processes to the new MARS system. They are listed on the same web page as MARS Procedures (above). Since changes to policies must be made in Administrative Regulation, we have listed both the current policies, which are unchanged, and the proposed policies which are in the process of being promulgated into Administrative Regulation. You can access current policies (BO's) by clicking on the organizational unit with oversight for that policy:

3.) Q Why was July 1, 1999 chosen as an implementation date, given the proximity to when the books must be closed?

A The beginning of the fiscal year is the logical time to begin implementation. This start-time minimizes the amount of data that needs to be converted.

4.) Q Will staff reductions result from MARS implementation?

A Some jobs may change very little; others will change significantly; and still others will go away. We won't have a clear picture of the extent of change to individual job positions until the MARS system (and resulting process changes) are more fully developed. In the event that a job is no longer needed, the Workforce Transition Team will work with each employee who will be affected to uphold this Administration's commitment to make the transition as smooth as possible. To date, every employee impacted by the EMPOWER Kentucky Administrative Services Project who was interested in maintaining his or her state employment has accepted another position in state government. Additional information about the project's Workforce Transition activities is included in the Workforce Transition section of the Change Leadership page.

5.) Q How long will MARS Central Team support be available?

A MARS Central Team support will be available as long as needed. We anticipate the need for a large central support team initially. As agencies become more independent, the MARS Central Team will be reduced.

Other Questions

Post-Implementation