OPA released its semi-annual Audit Recommendations Tracking Report for the period ending December 31, 2005. Audit recommendations tracked in 2005 totaled 84. Of the 84 audit recommendations, 5 were closed and 79 remained either open or resolved. Of the 79 open or resolved recommendations, 46 were considered delinquent.

OPA’s follow-up on outstanding audit recommendations and the response letters received from various government agencies resulted in the closure of audit recommendations and encouraged agency action on delinquent recommendations. OPA closed 5 of the 84 recommendations it tracked in the year 2005. The number of delinquent recommendations, however, increased by 53% as of December31, 2005.

An analysis of the five closed recommendations showed that two were closed because the agencies implemented OPA’s recommendations, one was closed because the agency implemented the decision of an arbitration panel, one was closed because the agency adopted a policy as recommended by OPA, and one was closed due to alternative actions taken that was sufficient enough for the closure of the recommendation.

Recommendations issued by private CPA firms are also included in OPA’s audit recommendations tracking report. OPA is not responsible for tracking the implementation of these recommendations, however, they are included in the audit tracking report for information purposes. Based on th e classification followed by private CPA firms, a recommendation is described as either resolved or unresolved. OPA has included in the tracking report a total of 103 recommendations in 8 recent audit reports issued by private CPA firms under contract by OPA.

As of December 31, 2005, recommendations in 13 audit reports were referred to the Attorney General’s Office for legal action to recover monies improperly expended. According to OPA’s audit reports, approximately $2,735,557 is potentially recoverable. In addition to this, potential recovery of another $3.7 million also hinges on agencies’ actions.

Recommendations in 9 audit reports identified potential recoveries due to unpaid rentals of land leases, uncollected labor processing fees, overpayments in professional services contracts and retirement benefits, and improper expenditure of public funds. Initial actions by agencies as of December 31, 2005 resulted in the partial recovery of $942,382. A balance recoverable was also redirected to the AGO [AR-99-02] thus leaving a balance recoverable of $3,719,606 which hinge on agencies’ actions.

In accordance with statutory restrictions in the Auditing and Ethics Acts, the names of individuals and entities in the audits are not disclosed in this report.

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Related: Audit Recommendation Tracking Reports