State & Local Reports

Since March 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic, and through October 2021, the federal government has allocated through various acts $74.9 billion to the State of Arizona and its local governments, businesses, and individuals for COVID-19 response and relief efforts. This special COVID-19 funding report presents information on the amounts, intended purposes, and recipients of those allocations. It also presents the results of our audit of the allocated monies Arizona State government directly spent and distributed during fiscal year 2020.

Since March 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic, and through October 2021, the federal government has allocated through various acts $74.9 billion to the State of Arizona and its local governments, businesses, and individuals for COVID-19 response and relief efforts. This special COVID-19 funding report presents information on the amounts, intended purposes, and recipients of those allocations. It also presents the results of our audit of the allocated monies Arizona State government directly spent and distributed during fiscal year 2020.

MGC administers both self-voluntary and non-voluntary gambling exclusion lists which prohibit individuals from gaming activities in the state. Although the audit, which examined July 1, 2018 through March 31, 2020, found no deficiencies in these areas, it highlighted the need for MGC to improve collaboration with other entities around issues facing the state’s horse racing industry.

This audit was conducted to evaluate the of Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) funds designated for City Council approved small business recovery and housing relief programs. The Office found that Community relief programs were adequately designed to address the economic impact from the pandemic. Controls over the distribution and monitoring of some community recovery programs should be improved to prevent and detect misappropriations. Emergency relief programs can benefit from the lessons learned during these COVID-19 responses.

The Cuyahoga County Department of Internal Auditing (DIA) conducted an audit of Sheriff’s Office funds for the period of January 1, 2021 through May 31, 2021. The main objective was to conduct an audit to assure adequate controls exist over the disbursements process for the Commissary, Cashbook, and Discretionary funds. Also, that the balances were accurate, and the expenditures made from these funds during the period were in compliance with Policies and Procedures, as well as applicable regulations, laws, and state or federal guidance. To accomplish our objectives DIA reviewed documentation and conducted interviews with management and staff regarding the procedures used for the bank reconciliations and expenditures of these funds. Audit procedures disclosed internal control weaknesses associated with bank reconciliations and expenditures.

The audit examined whether the Office of the Governor filled all vacant seats on the Commonwealth’s active boards and commissions as prescribed by state laws, regulations, or executive orders during the period of July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2020.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ohio’s unemployment system was flooded with new claims. Our audit found that the unemployment compensation system was not prepared for the surge in unemployment applications resulting from the pandemic. While limited human resources played a role, antiquated systems and lack of business intelligence made problems worse.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an audit of the Public Building Commission of Chicago’s (PBC) administration of building commissioning required by the Chicago Energy Conservation Code. Building commissioning is the process of documenting and verifying how buildings’ mechanical systems are designed, installed, and tested to meet their owners’ specific needs. Proper commissioning ensures these systems interact well and efficiently.The objective of the audit was to determine if PBC ensures that all required building commissioning documentation is developed and provided to its clients in accordance with the Chicago Energy Conservation Code. OIG reviewed documents for a sample of five projects completed in 2018 and 2019. We assessed whether the documentation was complete and accessible to building maintenance staff. We also spoke with staff from each of these projects about the quality of the commissioning process and any related equipment trainings.OIG concluded that although PBC’s projects had most of the required commissioning documentation and building maintenance staff were trained on commissioned equipment, PBC should do more to ensure its clients receive the documentation as it becomes available, including the training materials necessary to preserve institutional knowledge.OIG found that commissioning teams created reasonably complete documentation for four of the five projects we reviewed. However, this commissioning documentation was not always accessible to building maintenance staff. PBC stated that building maintenance staff at two projects received the required documentation electronically and that staff at the other three projects received hard copies. Despite this, building maintenance staff from all five projects stated they were still waiting to receive complete commissioning documents, but believed the trainings they attended were adequate to operate and maintain their buildings’ systems.

Vermont created an Economic Recovery Grant (ERG) program in June 2020 to assist businesses suffering economic harm from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Emergency ERG program (Round 1.0) and the Expanded Emergency ERG program (Round 2.0) operated between June 2020 and December 2020. In total, the State allocated approximately $315 million for the two rounds of the ERG program. This money came from the $1.25 billion in federal assistance Vermont received through the Coronavirus Relief Fund. The objectives of this audit were to: (1) assess whether ACCD ensured that only eligible businesses received payments under the ERG program, and (2) determine whether ACCD’s use of revenue loss to assess financial harm effectively measured businesses’ need