State & Local Reports

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

This audit, which is statutorily required under Chapter 555 of the Acts of 1986, examines the period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021.

The objective of this audit was to evaluate if: (1) the Office of Homeless Solutions Rapid Rehousing Program aligns with governance requirements and meets the City's objectives for the program; and, (2) the CARES Act federal funding has been used appropriately. The Office of Homeless Solutions Rapid Rehousing Program and CARES Act spending generally met requirements and have opportunities to improve. The Rapid Rehousing Program did not have policies and procedures, and its process for requiring background checks was not effective or fully documented.

This report focuses exclusively on The Department of Housing and Community Development's (HCD) progress in committing and awarding rent relief program benefits to eligible California households by the first crucial federal deadline, which is September 30, 2021. Although HCD is making significant progress toward meeting the first federal deadline, it must commit additional benefits to eligible households in order to reduce the State’s risk of losing millions of dollars in federal funds for this program.

The audit showed that the inadequacy and unreliability of DPL’s data meant that neither the agency nor the Auditor's Office could determine how many professionals were licensed without undergoing required background checks. The audit examined the period of July 1, 2017 through March 31, 2020.

The Cuyahoga County Department of Internal Auditing (DIA) has conducted an audit of the internal controls of the Medical Examiner's Office (MEO) annually released statistical report, for the processes in place during the release of the 2018 report. The main objective of the audit was to assess the completeness and accuracy of the statistical report published annually by the Medical Examiner. Audit procedures disclosed internal control weaknesses related to statistical reporting and information technology general controls (ITGC). Recommendations made by DIA included that MEO develop formal ITGC Policies and Procedures regarding critical applications including VertiQ and Justice Trax, work with their Justice Trax application provider to implement strengthened password requirements, incorporate secondary reviews for accuracy over the collection of data used in the annual Medical Examiner’s Statistical Report, and incorporate the requirement of the existence and review of audit trail and other supporting documentation within the report publishing Policies and Procedures Manual.