Report 2010-117 Recommendations and Responses in 2013-041
Report 2010-117: General Obligation Bonds: The Departments of Water Resources and Finance Should Do More to Improve Their Oversight of Bond Expenditures
| Department | Number of Years Reported As Not Fully Implemented | Total Recommendations to Department | Not Implemented After One Year | Not Implemented as of 2012-041 Response | Not Implemented as of Most Recent Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Finance | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Department of Water Resources | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Recommendation To: Water Resources, Department of
To provide the public with accurate and complete information on the bond-funded projects it administers, Water Resources should develop and consistently use a formalized, documented review process that will provide greater assurance that project information posted to the Bond Accountability Web site is regularly updated and contains accurate information.
Response
Please refer to our 2012 response.
- California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Will Not Implement
- Completion Date:
- Response Date: November 2013
Recommendation To: Finance, Department of
To enhance the value of the Bond Accountability Web site, Finance should require administering agencies to provide information about the actual amounts of bond funds spent on posted projects at least semiannually.
Response
In our original response to the Auditor, we explained that having state agencies report twice a year on "the actual amounts of bond funds spent on posted projects" would be very costly and provide little added value.
State agencies report when bond funds are "committed" to a project and the various applicable dates of when a project will be constructed and where it will be located. We believe that providing a greater level of detail about actual expenditures of bond funds would require setting up significant new tracking systems and would lead to considerable variability in the data reported. We believe the current level of detail provided on the website is the greatest level of detail we can provide with any certainty of accuracy without making significant changes to our tracking systems.
- California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Will Not Implement
- Response Date: October 2013
Recommendation To: Finance, Department of
To enhance the value of the Bond Accountability Web site, Finance should develop a tracking and review process to periodically assess the completeness of the project information posted to the Web site. Such a process should include a review of whether state agencies are describing, in terms the public can easily understand, the expected or realized benefits of bond-funded projects.
Response
In our original response to the Auditor, we indicated that "Finance will continue to review state agencies' reporting compliance during department audits and during special project reporting compliance reviews. As noted in our audit reports, our methodology includes a project reporting compliance review during each bond audit."
While the Auditor has deemed our response as "not implementing", we believe that we are implementing this recommendation. Our Office of State Audits and Evaluations (OSAE) conducts periodic audits and reviews of all agencies administering bond funds. During the bond audits, OSAE reviews management controls over project status reporting and on a sample basis reviews the completeness of project data posted to the website. Also, as conditions change that require new or different appropriations in the annual budget act additional updates are made to the website to reflect changes made to the allocation of bond funds.
- California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Will Not Implement
- Response Date: October 2013