An audit report was filed on June 27, 2008 on the compliance with Comptroller's Directive #7 by the Engineering Audit Office, Department of Sanitation. The audit assessed the compliance of the Office with this Directive, which provides agency Engineering Audit Officers (EAO's) with guidelines for independently pre-auditing payment requests for a variety of construction and related consultant services contracts. It was determined that the Department's engineering audit office has not fully complied with Comptroller's Directive #7 provisions regarding change-order work. Payments were authorized associated with change orders not registered with the Comptroller's Office. Aside from problems pertaining to change-order payments, the engineering audit office generally complied with other major requirements of Directive #7. Recommendations were made to rectify these issues.
An audit report was filed on June 26, 2008 on the financial and operating practices of the New York City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR). This audit determined whether CCHR is complying with certain City purchasing and inventory procedures. Other Than Personal Service (OTPS) expenditures for the New York City Commission on Human Rights amount to $1,849,980. It was determined that CCHR generally adhered to Comptroller's Directives (#3, 6, and 24), applicable Procurement Policy Board (PPB) rules and the Department of Investigation Standards for Inventory Control and Management. However, there were minor instance in which CCHR did not comply with certain purchasing and inventory procedures. Recommedations were made to rectify these issues.
An audit report was filed on June 30, 2008 on the financial and operating practices of the Queens Borough President's Office. The audit determined whether the Borough President's Office is complying with certain purchasing and inventory procedures and whether it maintained adequate controls over the cash receipts from map sales and topographical services. It was determined that the Office generally adhered to Comptroller's Directives and applicable rules and regulations. Expenditures were appropriate, and monies were not improperly used. However, the Office did not always comply with certain purchasing, cash control, and inventory procedures. Recommendations were made to rectify these issues.
This is a follow-up audit to determine whether the Queens Borough Public Library has implemented the nine recommendations that were made in the Audit Report on the Financial Controls of the Queens Borough Public Library.
An audit report was filed on June 30, 2008 on the pensioners of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) working for the City after retirement for the period January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006. The objective of the audit was to identify pensioners who may be reemployed by a City agency and illegally collecting a pension from the New York City Fire Department Pension Fund (FIRE) and to quantify amounts of any improper payments to these individuals. The audit did not find any individuals who received pension payments during 2006 that appear to violate applicable sections of State and City laws. As a result, this audit made no recommendations to FIRE officials.
An audit report was filed on June 30, 2008 on the pedagogical pensioners of the New York City Teachers' Retirement System working for the City after retirement for the period January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006. The objective of the audit was to identify pensioners who may be reemployed by a City agency and illegally collecting a pension from the New York City Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) and to quantify amounts of any improper payments to these individuals. The audit determined that 24 pensioners received $215,134 in pension payments during 2006 who appeared to violate applicable sections of State and City laws. Recommendations were made to handle these individuals and to address future incidents.
An audit report was filed on June 30, 2008 on the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) Vacant Lot Clean-up Program. The audit determined whether DSNY adequately responded to complaints and work orders regarding unclean vacant lots. It was determined that the DSNY Vacant Lot Clean-up Program had inadequate internal controls over the way it identified vacant lots for cleaning, processed complains and work orders on vacant lots, and managed the cleaning of the lots. There were issues regarding segregation of duties and lack of proper supervision, as well as tracking of aging cases. Other technical issues contributed to a longer response and thus a build-up of old cases. Recommendations were made to rectify these issues.
An audit report was filed on June 27, 2008 on the Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) billing and collecting of water and sewer charges from private hospitals. The audit determined whether DEP is properly billing private hospitals for water and sewer use and making efforts to collect all outstanding charges. It was determined that, in general, DEP is billing hospitals for water and sewer charges properly, in accordance with its policies and procedures and the New York City Water Board Water and Wastewater Rate Schedule. However, several internal control weaknesses were noted regarding DEP's collection practices. As a result of these weaknesses, DEP does not make timely and appropriate collection efforts. Recommendations were made to rectify these issues.