Tag Archives: Office of the City Auditor
Council committee catches up before new animal shelter audit
Last week, City Council Audit and Finance Committee members heard an update on a 2015 audit of the Animal Services Department in preparation for a new audit initiated by City Council in July. The 2015 audit, which discovered some issues…
City Hall • By Elizabeth Pagano • Aug 30, 2022
As employees return, complaints of fraud increase
Allegations of fraud, waste and abuse by city employees declined during 2020 and 2021 as a large number of employees worked from home. Brian Molloy, chief of the integrity unit at the Office of the City Auditor, told City Council’s…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Jun 16, 2022
City collisions cost more than $8 million over three years
City Council approved a payment last week of $82,500 to settle a lawsuit filed by Sherri Davis against the city and Austin Energy employee Stephen Tucker. Tucker is identified in the lawsuit as the driver of a city vehicle that struck…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • May 12, 2022
Parks supervisor resigns during inquiry into ethics allegations
A Parks and Recreation Department supervisor has resigned after running afoul of two ethics regulations. The fact that his supervisor misinterpreted one of the regulations likely compounded the problem. According to an audit released by the Office of the City…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Apr 27, 2022
Street cut follow-up audit shows progress on repairs
When a team from the Office of the City Auditor examined street cuts in 2017, they found a significant backlog in repairing the damaged areas left behind on streets when utility work is done by the city. Those damaged streets have been…
Roads • By Jo Clifton • Mar 1, 2022
Auditors find few faults with utility bill assistance program
Austin Energy, which manages billings for city utility customers, provides reduced utility bills for more than 35,000 electric, water and wastewater customers with low incomes. The Customer Assistance Program offers discounts that average about $650 a year for residential customers…
Energy • By Jo Clifton • Feb 28, 2022
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Rodriguez pleads guilty to misuse of federal funds, falsifying records
Frank Rodriguez, who served as a senior policy adviser to Mayor Steve Adler beginning in 2015, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to misapply federal funds and falsifying records “with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence an investigation into a…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Jan 12, 2022
Audit praises city's Covid assistance efforts, with rental payment results mixed
An audit found mixed results in the execution of some of the city’s programs created with federal money to provide assistance with the many impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. A report last week from the Office of the City Auditor…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Nov 15, 2021
Scathing audit finds city unprepared for Winter Storm Uri
Austin city auditors found the city was unprepared to respond to the impacts of Winter Storm Uri because planners failed to adequately consider the risks of a severe winter storm, leading to widespread disaster. That was a major conclusion of…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Nov 9, 2021
Audit finds fault with city's tech purchase system
City procedures for purchasing technology are not coordinated, timely or sufficiently clear and do not ensure that city resources are secure and protected, according to a report from the Office of the City Auditor issued this month. Auditors also said…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Nov 1, 2021
Audit finds golf chief accepted favors from employee
The superintendent for the Parks and Recreation Department’s golf complex accepted favors from an employee he directly supervises, according to a recently released investigative report from the Office of the City Auditor. After receiving an allegation that Nick Smitham, the…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Oct 27, 2021
PARD needs more funding, audit update shows
Since audits in 2016 and 2017, the Parks and Recreation Department has taken actions to address the management of its resources as well as cash handling problems. However, according to a follow-up report by the Office of the City Auditor,…
