Archive for the 'Audits' Category

Secretary Brown explains how her office is putting Oregonians back to work

Published on November 19, 2011 in Audits and Secretary Brown. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , .
Secretary of State Kate Brown

Secretary Brown addressing the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce

Secretary of State Kate Brown traveled down to the beautiful Rogue Valley to address the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce on Monday, November 14, 2011. Secretary Brown spoke during the lunch hour about why she is optimistic for Oregon’s future. She also Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brownexplained the small but important ways her office is putting Oregonians back to work. By streamlining bureaucracy, auditing community colleges for future labor market needs, and creative private-public partnerships Secretary Brown is contributing to the growth of Oregon’s economy.

Secretary Brown to Detail Innovative Ideas for Education

Published on October 7, 2011 in Audits, Headlines, Press Releases, Secretary Brown and Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .
SPED Design Lab Presentation
Friday October 7, 9:00AM-10:00AM
Eugene Hilton Conference Center

Secretary of State Kate Brown is the first Secretary of State in the nation to sponsor a design lab in her role as the Auditor of Public Funds. A design lab fosters creativity and innovation to run programs more efficiently and effectively. She will present on some breakthrough ideas for delivering special education services and meeting customer expectations at the 2011 Fall Conference for Special Education Administration.

According to Secretary Brown, “I want an education system where every child can shine.”

Sec of State Faults Commission for the Blind for Fiscal Irresponsibility

Published on September 28, 2011 in Audits, Headlines, Press Releases, Secretary Brown and Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Salem – A new report released by auditors on Wednesday found that the Oregon Commission for the Blind had not adequately addressed problems identified in a 2009 audit, which were similar to problems identified in a series of audits dating back to 1995. The report contradicted some of the agency’s responses about steps taken, when the agency responded to the Legislature in January 2010 and the auditors in November 2010.

“These problems have gone on far too long. Members of the Commission for the Blind need to hold their staff accountable,” Secretary of State Kate Brown said.

Auditors found that services in some cases were still being provided to ineligible individuals, vending revenue was not effectively tracked, and contracting improvements have not been made to its Business Enterprise Program. Auditors also came across new issues during their review, such as fleet vehicle usage, questionable spending, and compensation discrepancies for five managers.

“There are many clients out there who need assistance and this Commission must stretch its dollars wherever possible,” Audits Director Gary Blackmer said. “These are not complicated issues. All government agencies are responsible for using government resources effectively and efficiently.”

The report, including the agency response, can be found in the Audits section of the Oregon Secretary of State website.

Better contracting procedures recommended for the DOE

Published on June 16, 2011 in Audits and Press Releases. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Secretary of State recommends better contracting procedures for the Department of Energy

SALEM – A state audit released on Thursday found that the Oregon Department of Energy should strengthen its contracting procedures and take other actions to improve its business processes.

Since 2009 the Department of Energy has experienced substantial growth and change, with a new management team and a $70 million budget increase, largely resulting from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In February 2010, Interim Department Director Mark Long requested the Secretary of State audit three areas: contracting and procurement, accounts payable and receivable, and information security.

The auditors concluded that the department needed to improve its contractor selection, its sponsorship decisions, energy supplier assessment data monitoring, accounts receivable collection, and electronic information security.  A contracting issue identified during the audit prompted an investigation by the Department of Justice, and other legal actions, which prevented the release of the audit report until June 16.

Auditors found the department’s contractor selection procedures could better ensure impartiality, some contract deliverable requirements lacked specificity, and selection decisions needed better documentation.  Similarly, auditors found that decisions to sponsor energy-related conferences and organizations were lacking in documentation.  The department spent $157,500 from fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2010 to sponsor 63 efforts, but auditors found no evaluations of benefits relative to costs, or procedures for determining which efforts to sponsor.

“It’s a fundamental necessity if we are going to make government more effective and efficient that state agencies ensure best practices in contracting, sponsorships, and accounting are used,” said Secretary of State Kate Brown.

The audit report including the agency response can be found at www.sos.state.or.us/audits

 

For more information, please contact:
Gina Mattioda
Director of Communications
gina.mattioda@state.or.us
503-986-2368

News Release: Audit provides assurances about new Medicaid computer system

Published on June 14, 2011 in Audits and Press Releases. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Audit provides assurances about new Medicaid computer system

Operates as intended, but some clean up is still needed

SALEM – An audit report issued on Thursday concluded that Oregon’s major new computer system that processes Medicaid payments is operating as intended. The Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) used by the Department of Human Services (DHS) has adequate checks over the accuracy of the payment calculations, the data is protected, and programming changes are well-managed. About 530,000 Oregonians depended upon the Medicaid payment system, which paid approximately $2.6 billion to medical providers in fiscal year 2010.

“This is an important element of our Medicaid system and the upgrade was a multi-year effort by DHS,” said Secretary of State Kate Brown. “We are pleased to see it functioning as it should.”

While the audit found that the MMIS was currently operating as intended, problems during startup caused some over- and under-payments to health care providers.  In total, these errors represented less than one percent of Medicaid payments processed through the system. The audit recommended that DHS resolve these matters. In addition, some minor security issues were reported to the agency in a confidential letter.

“Because of the Oregon Health Plan the MMIS has unique design features, while also ensuring that providers are not paid more than permitted,” said Audits Director Gary Blackmer. “For example, the software performs 800 edits and audits on transactions, which we checked for appropriateness.”

The audit report including the agency response can be found at www.sos.state.or.us/audits


For more information, please contact:
Gina Mattioda
Director of Communications
gina.mattioda@state.or.us
503-986-2368

The 2011 Session is Here!

Published on February 9, 2011 in Archives, Audits, Corporation, Elections, Secretary Brown and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

The time has come and the Oregon State Legislature is convening to discuss some of the most pressing issues in the history of the State of Oregon. The good news is, the Legislature is wasting no time, introducing a bevy of bills, and keeping our staff plenty busy in the process.

It’s nearly an even split in both chambers of the legislature and while some folks view this as a potential problem, we think it’s an opportunity for the legislature to work together in a truly bipartisan way to get Oregon through these tough economic times.

As for the Secretary of State’s Office, our goal for this session is to continue the work we’ve started on implementing our agency vision, which is to:

  • Engage;
  • Innovate for the Future; and
  • Deliver even better Results for all Oregonians

    • We will be sharing information on some of the bills we’re working on and we hope you will register to leave comments, so that we can get your feedback on our bills and the session in general.

    Oregon Secretary of State Brown – 20 Push-ups

    Published on November 4, 2009 in Audits, Ballot Initiatives, HAVA and Secretary Brown. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

    Source: a href=A few years back, when I was still a State Senator, I attended a workshop, which was put on by the Council of State Governments regional arm, CSG-West, an organization I also chaired for a year.

    This particular workshop was focused on how legislators can build  credibility –through improved accountability– with their constituents. At the outset of the workshop, the keynote speaker asked who in this room of legislators could do 20 push-ups. Thinking nothing of it and being the eager beaver that I am, I quickly raised my hand as did a few others.

    The speaker then spent the next 15 minutes talking about some key functions of building and maintaining accountability with constituents,  delivering on campaign promises and engaging groups back inside the district.

    With that lesson delivered, the speaker conducted a little real-world experiment, recalling the claim I and a few others had made regarding these 20 push-ups. She invited me and one other legislator, a gentleman from New Mexico, up to do the 20 push-ups we had promised her we could do. This was a moment of truth.

    The good news for Oregon; I did them pretty easily. The bad news for New Mexico; their legislator couldn’t do his.

    This drove the message home for me: If you’re going to commit to something during the campaign, you need to make absolutely sure that you can deliver on them once you’ve been elected.

    When I was running for this office, I made three major promises to the voters of this state:

    1. That I was going to restore integrity to the initiative process
    2. That I was going to undertake a comprehensive civic engagement program
    3. That I was going to focus our work in the Audits division on performance auditing

    When I took office, I remembered that day when I was called up to do 20 push-ups. Taking a high profile position in State government, I knew that I was going to be held to my word on the campaign trail, so I started right in, working on fulfilling those promises.

    Continue reading ‘Oregon Secretary of State Brown – 20 Push-ups’

    A Few Questions For: Gary Blackmer – Audits Division Director

    Published on September 28, 2009 in Audits and Q&A. 0 Comments Tags: , .

    On the first of June this year, Gary Blackmer became director of the Secretary of State’s Audits Division.  He came to the state after a decade as Portland’s elected city auditor and before that was elected to two terms as the Multnomah County auditor. Blackmer is recognized nationally for his expertise in government auditing and has developed particular proficiency in performance audits, which thoroughly analyze the efficiency and effectiveness of governmental policies, management and fiscal dealings. He answered a few questions for us about his first few months on the job.

    Q. What changes do you see for the Audits Division?

    A. I’m asking the auditors to dig deeper into the problems they encounter when they audit so we can identify the root causes of problems and make recommendations that help managers pinpoint solutions. I’m finding that auditors are very enthused about this new scope of their responsibilities. They’re leaping into the issues and producing better audits already.

    Q. What’s a performance audit?

    A. A performance audit looks at how an organization delivers services and figures out where the bottlenecks and obstacles are. So when we point problems out to management, they can improve their service, whether it involves cost or quality or timeliness. A financial audit looks at the money transactions in an organization. Our biggest responsibility in a statewide financial audit is determining whether agency reporting of financial transactions is accurate and reliable.  Our other large responsibility is determining whether federal funds were handled in compliance with federal rules.

    Q. Will the Audits Division be doing more performance audits than it did in the past?

    A. Yes, we will be stretching some of our audits that only looked at rule compliance to look at the larger picture of performance.  We’re also looking at ways to apply our financial audit staff to equally important questions about public finance issues.

    Q. How can audits help save taxpayer money?

    A. In many ways, government gets in its own way in delivering services. As outsiders, we can see things that people in an organization have become accustomed to, things that are unnecessary or duplicative. Finding them are ways we can save money. We can also look at the state’s revenue sources to see if we can bring in additional dollars. We can examine programs to see if they’re accomplishing the objectives set forward by the Legislature. If they’re not, leadership can decide how to better allocate those resources to be more effective.

    Continue reading ‘A Few Questions For: Gary Blackmer – Audits Division Director’