State & Local Reports

What Was Performed? An investigation of the Department of Insurance Improper Activities of Controller was performed.Why This Engagement? The Office of Auditor of Accounts received a request from the Chief of Staff at Department of Insurance to perform an investigation on the Controller of the Finance Division. The Controller is the top-ranking fiscal position at the Department of Insurance that provides total fiscal control of the Department’s financial resourcesWhat Was Found: The Office of Auditor of Accounts found an overall lack of controls in the Department of Insurance. The Controller violated a number of provisions of the State of Delaware Budget and Accounting Manual which significantly increased the Department’s risk of misuse and misappropriation.Recommendations: The Office of Auditor of Accounts recommends that the Department of Insurance should review and implement controls and processes to mitigate risk of collusion by the Controller, ensure compliance with laws and regulations, and have the Agency Head review those controls on an ongoing basis to ensure they are working effectively.

We recommend that the City Council accept the City Auditor’s interim report on the status of internal controls for documenting COVID-19 related costs to support receipt of emergency public assistance grants through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

We recommend that the City Council accept the City Auditor’s interim report on the status of internal controls for documenting COVID-19 related costs to support receipt of emergency public assistance grants through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

What Was Performed? An inspection of the Fiscal Year 2019 Purchase Card Performance Metrics was performed.Why This Engagement? The Office of Auditor of Accounts (OAOA) chose to perform this study as a practice aid to train new auditors on our data analytics software as well as to support the Government Efficiency & Accountability Review Board (GEAR) initiatives related to the State PCard program.What Was Found: OAOA identified agencies as “Best Practice” or “Needs Improvement” according to key performance measures. Additionally, we calculated a potential cost-avoidance savings if a portion of State checkbook transactions were converted to PCard transactions. Our study determined that the benefit of the processing-cost savings far exceeds the potential rebate.Recommendations: OAOA recommends that the Division of Accounting assist all state agencies, charter schools, and school districts by promoting the use of PCards for eligible small dollar transactions. This would help the State realize available rebate revenues and generate cost savings from efficiencies in PCard processing.

The State Ethics Commission is an independent agency that administers and enforces the states conflict of interest law and financial disclosure law for elected state and county employees. Our audit, which examined the period July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2019, found the SEC had no deficiencies in the areas examined.

The audit found UMBA could not verify that employees of contractors who worked on public projects were paid the appropriate prevailing wage. The audit examined the period of July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018.