Audit News: Kudos on Parks Tax Accountability; 2018 Audits and Strategic Planning

Office of the City Auditor

City of Berkeley

City Auditor Ann-Marie Hogan

Council - Tuesday, July 25 @ 6pm

Item 31: Audit Report - Good News! City used parks tax as taxpayers intended. Parks, Recreation, & Waterfront (PRW) has good accountability practices in place.

Berkeley Rose Garden

Item 54: Action on IT Audit - IT reports on aligning governance improvements with successful completion of planned ERP system. In response to our audit "City at Crossroads as Long-Standing Need for Structured Approach to Line of Business Experts Function Intersects with ERP Implementation" , IT plans to fully implement all recommendations. Action will be tied to completion of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project replacing antiquated fiscal and performance management systems; target date is June 2020.

Item 57: Zero Waste Commission 2017 Work Plan and Strategic Plan - The City cannot achieve its longtime Zero Waste by 2020 goal without a strategic (forward-thinking) plan. We recommended this action in our 2014 audit "Underfunded Mandate: Resources, Strategic Plan, and Communication Needed to Continue Progress Toward the Year 2020 Zero Waste Goal". The Commission names lack of City staff resources as the cause of multi-year delays.

While the City has not moved forward on the strategic plan for Zero Waste by 2020, they have made considerable progress in moving forward with strategic planning for the City. Including Priority Initiatives for each department in this budget (pages 125-233) and actual results in the next is a commendable step forward in holding the city accountable for delivering promised services.

Item 58: What Risks Will Audits Address in 2018? - Next year's audit plan. The City's most important asset is its people. An immediate risk to operations and strategic, long term planning is workload capacity: does the City have the staff resources to provide expected, promised, and critical services? Three new audits will address immediate, as opposed to planned, service-delivery demands this year :

Dispatch workload
Community direct requests for service
Code enforcement workload

We are also dropping some planned audits because of capacity challenges, including workforce turnover and resources needed to address the ERP completion and other priorities adopted by Council:

Permit Center phase II - The Planning Department continues to work on recommendations from our March 25, 2014 "Construction Permits: Monitor Performance and Fee Assessments to Ensure Excellent and Equitable Customer Service" audit, and similar recommendations from a recent report presented at the June 27, 2017 special meeting. Click on "comments from the City Manager" to hear the City Auditor address Permit Center next steps. Many recommendations cannot be addressed until software issues are resolved as part of the ERP.
Data collection systems - After the new payroll system is in place, we can make more effective recommendations for systematic analysis of resources allocated to respond to needs and impact of homeless and similar populations.
Citywide billings and collections - Software and staff capacity issues have delayed action on previous recommendations for Business License Tax and Zero Waste billing audits.
Investment policy - Deferred because of staff capacity issues in Finance.
Fiscal sustainability - Council and the City Manager are planning additional action on unfunded liabilities and prudent fiscal policies next year.

Ask us a question - send us advice

Thank you for your continued support for our work to help Berkeley deliver services in a more efficient, effective, and equitable way. Please contact me at auditor@cityofberkeley.info or at 981-6750 with your questions or comments. I'm always happy to hear from folks who want to get more involved. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Ann-Marie Hogan, Auditor
City of Berkeley Auditor's Office

Audit News

from the City Auditor

July 2017

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