Federal Reports

This report presents the results of our self-initiated audit of No Sale Transactions - Bloomfield, NJ, Main Office, which is in the Northern New Jersey District of the Northeast Area. This audit was designed to provide Postal Service management with timely information on potential financial control risks at Postal Service locations.

Individuals and companies use private railcars for leisure travel and to operate businesses by renting the railcars, hosting onboard events, or selling individual seats or beds. When Amtrak assumed responsibility for intercity passenger rail service in 1971, it also assumed responsibility for the movement of private railcars from its predecessors. Our audit objectives were to assess the extent to which the company is (1) identifying and billing private railcar owners for the costs associated with movements and long-term parking services and (2) effectively managing the program.We found that the company has taken recent actions to improve the management of its private railcar program, but the program is impeded by longstanding program management weaknesses including inadequate controls for cost and revenue management, a lack of standard operating procedures, and limited safety and parking guidelines. We recommended that the company identify the costs of providing movement and long-term parking services and, once identified, factor these costs into decisions on setting or adjusting prices for private railcar services. Additionally, we recommended the company monitor the program’s financial and performance reporting, finalize and implement the program’s standard operating procedures, and implement guidelines and parking permits at all short- and long-term parking facilities.

Our audit objectives were to (1) assess the performance of in-field address canvassing operations and (2) determine whether in-office address canvassing correctly identified blocks for the in-field address canvassing operation.

We audited the Detroit Housing Commission’s Moderate Rehabilitation program based on concerns regarding the conditions of the housing units and the results of our prior audit of the Commission’s former projects. The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2018 annual audit plan. Our audit objective was to determine whether the Commission administered its program in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) and its own requirements.The Commission did not always administer its program in accordance with HUD’s and its own requirements. Specifically, it did not (1) correctly calculate and pay housing assistance for its program households, (2) obtain and maintain required eligibility documentation, (3) appropriately update contract rents, and (4) always enforce HUD’s housing quality standards. As a result, the Commission overpaid more than $47,000 and underpaid nearly $25,000 in housing assistance and utility allowance reimbursements. In addition, it paid more than $85,000 in unsupported housing assistance.We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Detroit Office of Public Housing require the Commission to (1) reimburse its program more than $23,000 from non-Federal funds; (2) reimburse the households or projects nearly $25,000 from non-Federal funds for the underpayment of housing assistance and utility allowances; (3) support or reimburse its program, households, or projects more than $85,000 for unsupported housing assistance payments; (4) pursue collection or reimburse its program nearly $24,000 from non-Federal funds for the overpayment of housing assistance; and (5) implement adequate quality control procedures to correct the findings cited in this audit report.

Prior OIG reviews identified significant Medicare Part B overpayments, including those to ambulance suppliers, for services they provided to Medicare beneficiaries during skilled nursing facility (SNF) stays covered under Medicare Part A. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) generally concurred with recommendations in these reports and implemented them. However, our analysis of recent claim data indicated that overpayments for ambulance transportation might still be occurring.

An Amtrak Foreman was formally reprimanded and disqualified from his current position on January 22, 2019, for one year after he admitted to violating the company’s Standards of Excellence and Acceptable Use policies for computer and network systems. The employee inappropriately viewed movies while on duty after they were uploaded to his Amtrak computer. A Locomotive Technician was counseled for his part in bringing the movies to work and providing them to the foreman.