State & Local Reports

This advisory summarized the findings of OIG’s 2017 Chicago Department of Transportation Aldermanic Menu Audit and urged Mayor Lightfoot to implement the related recommendations. Specifically, the advisory noted,• the Aldermanic Menu Program (“Menu”) creates significant funding inequities, including a gap of $9.3 million between the best- and worst-funded wards;• Menu underfunds citywide residential infrastructure needs by $228.8 million annually;• the City allows alderman to spend Menu funds on projects other than residential street infrastructure; and• the City does not follow best practices for multiyear capital planning of residential street infrastructure.OIG suggested that the City stop funding core residential infrastructure through Menu and empower the Department to fully inhabit its infrastructure management role.

The complete report can be found on our website: auditor.delaware.govFor more information, contact: Kathleen McGuiness, State Auditor – kathleen.mcguiness@delaware.gov – (302) 739-4241Why This Inspection? This inspection on school district and charter school overtime is the final installment of our review for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017. We identified the top 50 overtime earners for school districts and charter schools and tested internal controls related to overtime payments.The top 50 overtime earners that we tested earned approximately $800,000 and $1.0 million in overtime for 2016 and 2017, respectively.What We Found: Through testing the top 50 overtime earners, we identified internal control weaknesses for 64% and 60% of the payroll documents we inspected for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017, respectively. We found the districts were using a variety of methods, from automated to manual, to track and approve overtime hours; some variations resulted in more human errors. We tested 410 timesheets and found the following issues:• 207 timesheets lacked supporting documentation (Capital, Christina, Lake Forest, and New Castle County Vocational-Technical School Districts)• 46 incorrectly calculated timesheets (Appoquinimink, Cape Henlopen, Capital, Christina, Colonial, Lake Forest, New Castle County Vocational-Technical, and Smyrna School Districts)• One timesheet lacked approval of overtime (Christina School District)Christina, Lake Forest, New Castle County Vocational-Technical, and Smyrna School Districts provided management responses detailing internal control measures and process improvements that have been implemented as a result of this engagement. As an example, the Smyrna School District is in the process of converting to an automated absence request and personnel attendance system.RECOMMENDATIONS• A universal automated timekeeping system should be utilized by all school districts.• School districts should ensure that employees responsible for reviewing timesheets are properly trained and understand the importance of the accuracy of this review.

The audit had five findings:1. Controls to ensure overtime recorded was actually worked should be improved to ensure accuracy and consistency.2. The billing process for reimbursable expenses needs to be updated, automated, recorded, and tracked more efficiently in the County’s financial system.3. The bi-weekly payroll process is complex, requires significant manual effort, and is reliant on one individual with limited oversight. 4. Reconciliation of data and reporting out of TeleStaff should be improved to ensure overtime accuracy. 5. The current process of calculating minimum staffing can be improved for budget monitoring and transparency purposes.