Cash transactions take place in Cayuga County places of businesses every day, and it's safe to say standard operating procedures for the ones handling large amounts of money are to keep those funds locked up and to deposit them into the bank daily.

It's hard to fathom how such a system was not in place at the Cayuga County Treasurer's Office.

Instead, a shoddy process allowed for the theft of $13,000 in tax money from the treasurer's office, most likely during daylight hours. And because the public is only learning now about the criminal investigation into this case, it's unlikely those funds will ever be found.

County Treasurer James Orman said his office was following procedures that were in place before he was elected to the position. Those procedures included allowing money to be stored in an unlocked box on top of a file cabinet and holding onto cash for several days before making deposits. It was a system that also allowed roughly six months to go by before the missing money was discovered.

Orman said he's made changes since this incident. Money is now kept in a locked box, employee traffic in the office is restricted and new computer software is helping to improve the efficiency for processing payments for deposit (though daily deposits to the bank are still not standard procedure, which boggles the mind).

It's true that Orman inherited an office that had been poorly managed and that had plenty of antiquated procedures in place. And it's true that he's made some terrific improvements in the way the treasurer's office serves county residents as well as the county Legislature.

But to lose $13,000 is hardly a minor mistake. It's a major blunder.

Unfortunately, Orman overlooked an area that should have been at the top of his to-do list when he took office - addressing how cash is handled and kept secure.