City auditor unveils new online tracking system for audits

The Office of the City Auditor is advertising a new tool to let any member of the public see how different departments are doing in response to audit findings. That tool is a new online dashboard that tracks recommendations from audits and how departments are carrying out tasks outlined in those recommendations.

Deputy city auditor Jason Hadavi explained the various changes his office has made to its online presence to the City Council Audit and Finance Committee on Wednesday.

Council Member Alison Alter, who chairs the committee, told the Austin Monitor she thinks the new online dashboard “will add transparency and sunlight to the work of the auditor and the audit committee. We’ve already seen that it has facilitated completion of recommendations and we appreciate staff addressing recommendations in a timely manner.”

Hadavi said that auditors have created a new system designed to improve implementation of audit recommendations. On Wednesday, the new online dashboard showed the status of 155 recommendations from 32 audit reports, beginning with audits done in 2019 and continuing through this year so far.

The dashboard provides information on recommendations from recent audits, including the report on the Animal Services Office and Austin Energy’s tree-trimming efforts. However, as Hadavi pointed out, those departments have not reported any efforts to address those findings so far.

Auditors will now also provide semi-annual presentations to the committee in order to increase transparency.

Committee members also heard from Brian Molloy, chief of investigations for the auditor’s office, who outlined the work his investigators have done over the past year. He said they received 316 allegations in Fiscal Year 2023, which is close to average. However, about two-thirds of those were outside the jurisdiction of the auditor’s office, he said. Some of those were referred to other departments, such as Human Resources.

Molloy said the most common allegations relate to abuse, theft and misuse of city property. Over the last year, investigators looked into 11 allegations. Seven of those were substantiated, while the results of three were inconclusive and one was found to be unsubstantiated. He said in the substantiated cases, six resulted in separation of the employee from the department. The seventh case involved a contractor, and that contract was terminated, Molloy said.

The auditor’s office maintains an anonymous online reporting form and an anonymous hotline. He said 55 percent of those who report to the office use an anonymous form.

He noted that 10 percent of allegations over the past year involved Animal Services and another 10 percent related to Austin Energy. Another 8 percent of complaints were about Human Resources, while another 8 percent were about the Parks and Recreation Department. He said that was in line with previous years.

Molloy told the committee his group is currently investigating eight complaints about five different departments.

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