Report 2021-114 Recommendation 10 Responses

Report 2021-114: State Surplus Property: The State Should Use Its Available Property More Effectively to Help Alleviate the Affordable Housing Crisis (Release Date: March 2022)

Recommendation #10 To: General Services, Department of

To improve the State's ability to track public property, DGS should do the following:

- By September 2022, begin reconciling the SPI and county assessors' real property records and update the SPI as necessary.

- Ensure that county and state real property records remain in alignment by reviewing records and resolving any mismatches in the year before each periodic review occurs.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From February 2025

DGS has completed the analysis of all 58 counties and has found some presumably state-owned parcels that are not in SPI. To complete the reconciliation the team will be working with respective county assessor offices on non-matching records, working with agencies and departments for ownership confirmation and proof of deeds, and working with the SPI team to incorporate the changes into the SPI database.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From February 2025

DGS is utilizing existing resources as the department was unsuccessful in securing funding for the positions to work on the reconciliation due to statewide budget pressures. As a result, the team has less staff tasked to this audit recommendation. The team has reviewed 44 of the 58 counties and have found many state-owned parcels that are not in SPI. In addition, there are many parcels that SPI does not have an assessor parcel number for. The team is working to complete the initial review process of the 58 counties by mid-2025. To complete the reconciliation after the initial review will consist of working with respective county assessor offices on non-matching records, working with agencies and departments for ownership confirmation and proof of deeds, and working with the SPI team to incorporate the changes into the SPI database.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending

1-Year Agency Response

These conversations are ongoing, subject to the deliberative budget process.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Pending

6-Month Agency Response

These conversations are ongoing, subject to the deliberative budget process.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

60-Day Agency Response

These conversations are ongoing, subject to the deliberative budget process.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2021-114

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.