2014-041 - Status of Recommendations - Table 4

Table 4
Recommendations More Than One Year Old Made to Nonstate Entities
State Auditor's Assessment
Report Title, Number, and Issue Date Recommendation # Years Comp Date Status Not Substantiated Not Addressed
HIGHER EDUCATION
Laney College
California's Postsecondary Educational Institutions: Some Institutions Have Not Fully Complied With Federal Crime Reporting Requirements 2012-032 (Issue Date: 10/16/2012)

3. To ensure that they comply with the Clery Act by correctly reporting all applicable crimes and disclosing all required campus security policies, institutions should review and adhere to applicable guidance related to the Clery Act, including Education's Office of Postsecondary Education's (OPE) Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting (OPE handbook) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook.

2 March 2015 Not Fully Implemented

9. To ensure that they comply with the Clery Act by correctly reporting all applicable crimes and disclosing all required campus security policies, institutions should thoroughly review the Clery Act crime statistics and security policy disclosures in their annual security reports for accuracy before publication.

2 March 2015 Not Fully Implemented

13. To ensure that they comply with the Clery Act by correctly reporting all applicable crimes and disclosing all required campus security policies, institutions should ensure that they have a complete, accessible daily crime log, as required by the Clery Act.

2 December 2013 Fully Implemented

17. Institutions should ensure that they properly notify both current and prospective students and employees of the availability of their annual security reports in the manner prescribed by the Clery Act.

2 January 2014 Fully Implemented
University of the Pacific
California's Postsecondary Educational Institutions: Some Institutions Have Not Fully Complied With Federal Crime Reporting Requirements 2012-032 (Issue Date: 10/16/2012)

6. To ensure that they comply with the Clery Act by correctly reporting all applicable crimes and disclosing all required campus security policies, institutions should review and adhere to applicable guidance related to the Clery Act, including Education's Office of Postsecondary Education's (OPE) Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting (OPE handbook) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook.

2 January 2014 Fully Implemented

12. To ensure that they comply with the Clery Act by correctly reporting all applicable crimes and disclosing all required campus security policies, institutions should thoroughly review the Clery Act crime statistics and security policy disclosures in their annual security reports for accuracy before publication.

2 January 2014 Fully Implemented

20. Institutions should ensure that they properly notify both current and prospective students and employees of the availability of their annual security reports in the manner prescribed by the Clery Act.

2 January 2014 Fully Implemented
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Amador County
Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund: Local Governments Continue to Have Difficulty Justifying Distribution Fund Grants 2010-036 (Issue Date: 02/15/2011)

1. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should require that the county auditor review each grant application to ensure a rigorous analysis of a casino's impact and of the proportion of funding for the project provided by the grant. Benefit committees should consider a grant application only when the county auditor certifies that the applicant has quantified the impact of the casino and verifies that the grant funds requested will be proportional to the casino's impact.

2 March 2012 Fully Implemented

23. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should require benefit committee filing officers to avail themselves of the free training provided by the FPPC so that the filing officers are aware of and meet their responsibilities under the political reform act. Counties should also adhere to FPPC guidelines for notifying filers of the need to submit statements of economic interests.

2 April 2014 Fully Implemented
California Statewide Communities Development Authority
Conduit Bond Issuers: Issuers Complied With Key Bond Requirements, but Two Joint Powers Authorities' Compensation Models Raise Conflict-of-Interest Concerns 2011-118/2011-613 (Issue Date: 08/23/2012)

2. To be better informed about the compensation of their consultants, including any potential conflicts of interest, California Communities and Municipal Finance should require the consulting firms that staff their organizations to disclose the amount and structure of compensation provided to individual consultants, including disclosing whether any of this compensation is tied to the volume of bond sales.

2 Will Not Implement Will Not Implement

4. In implementing its January 2012 contracting policy, California Communities should either periodically subject existing contracts to competitive bidding or perform some other price comparison analysis to ensure that the public funds it oversees are used effectively.

2 September 2014 Not Fully Implemented

8. Once the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finalizes its definition of municipal advisor, California Communities should have its legal counsel review whether HB Capital should register with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

2 July 2014 Fully Implemented
City of Vernon
City of Vernon: Although Reform Is Ongoing, Past Poor Decision Making Threatens Its Financial Stability 2011-131 (Issue Date: 06/28/2012)

4. To increase accountability and transparency in its governance, the city should develop a formal policy that describes the circumstances under which revenues can be transferred from its power department, and the limits and permissible uses of transferred revenue.

2 * Not Fully Implemented X

6. To ensure that it develops complete and appropriate personnel policies and procedures, the new human resources director should ensure that the city's policies and procedures include, at a minimum, requirements for performing and documenting the analyses and justifications for appointments, including promotions, to management positions.

2 November 2012 Fully Implemented

7. To ensure that it develops complete and appropriate personnel policies and procedures, the new human resources director should ensure that the city's policies and procedures include, at a minimum, requirements for minimum qualifications, desirable qualifications, and job duties for all city executive positions.

2 September 2013 Fully Implemented

8. To ensure that it develops complete and appropriate personnel policies and procedures, the new human resources director should ensure that the city's policies and procedures include, at a minimum, a periodic appraisal process for executives.

2 September 2013 Fully Implemented

9. To ensure that it develops complete and appropriate personnel policies and procedures, the new human resources director should ensure that the city's policies and procedures include, at a minimum, an improved methodology for and analysis of future salary surveys, ensuring that they are performed by staff or a consultant with experience and expertise in the area of salary surveys.

2 * Not Fully Implemented X

10. The city should determine whether employees have a vested right to longevity payments and whether it can legally reduce or discontinue the original longevity program as a means to reduce its costs.

2 January 2014 Fully Implemented

11. To ensure accurate reporting and payment of retirement benefits, the city should work with California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) to resolve the reported findings and observation noted in CalPERS April 2012 audit report within a reasonable period of time.

2 December 2014 Not Fully Implemented

16. To better control contract expenditures and ensure that it receives the best value for the services it purchases, the city should require that all contracts contain a well-defined scope of work and deliverables that a sufficiently detailed invoice can be measured against.

2 October 2014 Not Fully Implemented

18. To better control contract expenditures and ensure that it receives the best value for the services it purchases, the city should also require the finance department to review invoices to identify those that lack sufficient detail and return such invoices to the appropriate contract manager to obtain a revised invoice that is sufficiently detailed.

2 February 2014 Fully Implemented

20. To the extent that the city implements policies that affect contracts, the city should also ensure that it reviews all current contracts and amends them, if necessary, to comply with newly established policies.

2 July 2016 Not Fully Implemented

21. To improve its internal controls, better control costs, and prevent abuse from occurring, the city should require the finance department to review credit card expenditures for appropriateness.

2 February 2014 Fully Implemented

22. To improve its internal controls, better control costs, and prevent abuse from occurring, the city should revise its travel and expense reimbursement policy to be clear about the expenditure limits for meals, and add a limit for lodging accommodations.

2 December 2013 Fully Implemented

27. To address the structural deficit in its general fund, the city should seek long-term solutions to balance the general fund's expenditures and revenues and lessen its reliance on transfers from other city funds. These solutions could include revenue increases, such as the proposed increased and new parcel tax, as well as looking for ways to reduce expenditures.

2 July 2015 Not Fully Implemented

28. The city should clearly present the general fund structural deficit to the city council and the public in a budget that includes narrative and summary information to help users understand the city's budget process and its priorities and challenges, and that incorporates the elements for improved budgeting practices recommended by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA).

2 July 2015 Not Fully Implemented

29. To better guide its budget preparation and improve transparency, the city should develop budget policies, particularly for long-term planning, that incorporate the elements that the GFOA recommends and make these policies available to the public on its Web site.

2 February 2014 Fully Implemented

31. The city should improve the monitoring of expenditures against the approved budget by establishing a centralized process to regularly monitor and report to the city administrator and the city council on the status of the budget.

2 February 2014 Fully Implemented

32. To ensure that it issues debt when doing so is in the best interests of the city and is consistent with its long-term financial goals, the city should establish a comprehensive debt policy that includes the elements that the GFOA recommends and make the debt policy it establishes available on its Web site.

2 February 2014 Fully Implemented

33. To ensure that the city council and public are well informed regarding proposed debt decisions, the city should provide summary information that clearly explains the costs, risks, and benefits related to the proposed decisions in its agenda packets, and should provide these in advance on its Web site.

2 February 2014 Fully Implemented

34. To ensure that it can demonstrate sufficient analysis and provide justification for its decisions on significant energy-related transactions, the city should develop an integrated energy strategy that examines all elements of its energy needs, sources, and objectives.

2 July 2015 Not Fully Implemented

35. To ensure that it can demonstrate sufficient analysis and provide justification for its decisions on significant energy-related transactions, the city should create a formal process and guidelines that include the following: identifying the benefits and risks of proposed transactions, quantifying the benefits and risks of proposed transactions, evaluating and comparing proposed transactions against alternative proposals, quantifying the impact of proposed transactions on short-term and long-term rates paid by the city's energy customers, seeking an independent validation of the fair market value of proposed transactions, and documenting and communicating the findings of the evaluation process to the city council.

2 * Not Fully Implemented X

36. If the city plans to continue to rely on the advice of its consultants when entering significant energy-related transactions, it should develop a process for the consultants to provide written documentation that would enable the city to satisfy the process and guidelines outlined in the previous two recommendations.

2 August 2013 Fully Implemented

37. To minimize the continuing financial losses on the two currently outstanding interest rate swaps, the city should develop a clear process for deciding how it will terminate these swaps based on the cost and future risk to the city.

2 February 2014 Fully Implemented

38. To ensure that any future decisions to enter into interest rate swaps are carefully considered, the city should develop and follow a process that thoroughly analyzes the risks and benefits of the potential swap transaction.

2 * Not Fully Implemented X

39. To ensure that any future decisions to enter into interest rate swaps are carefully considered, the city should specifically disallow the use of derivatives for speculative purposes and should require the retention of the documents and analyses that support the decision to enter into the swap.

2 * Not Fully Implemented X
Humboldt County
Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund: Local Governments Continue to Have Difficulty Justifying Distribution Fund Grants 2010-036 (Issue Date: 02/15/2011)

2. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should require that the county auditor review each grant application to ensure a rigorous analysis of a casino's impact and of the proportion of funding for the project provided by the grant. Benefit committees should consider a grant application only when the county auditor certifies that the applicant has quantified the impact of the casino and verifies that the grant funds requested will be proportional to the casino's impact.

2 Will Not Implement Will Not Implement

10. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should more rigorously review applications that are to be administered and spent by an entity other than the local government that applies for the funds. Specifically, benefit committees should require that each grant application clearly show how the grant will mitigate the impact of the casino on the applicant agency.

2 July 2012 Fully Implemented
Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services
Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services: Management Instability Hampered Efforts to Better Protect Children 2011-101.2 (Issue Date: 03/29/2012)

2. To ensure that child abuse and neglect allegations receive timely resolution, the department should assess whether it needs to permanently allocate more resources to investigate allegations of child abuse and neglect.

2 Fall 2015 Not Fully Implemented

4. To ensure that it is placing children only in safe homes, the department should measure its performance and adjust its practices to adhere to state law, which requires that all homes be assessed prior to the placement of the child.

2 Will Not Implement Will Not Implement

5. To improve its process for placing children with a relative, the department should analyze the best practices used by other county child welfare services agencies for such placements. The department should then implement changes in its practices so that relatives and their homes are approved prior to placement, as required by state law.

2 Will Not Implement Will Not Implement

7. To fully benefit from its death review process, the department should implement the resulting recommendations.

2 March 2014 Fully Implemented
Los Angeles Unified School District
School Safety and Nondiscrimination Laws: Most Local Educational Agencies Do Not Evaluate the Effectiveness of Their Programs, and the State Should Exercise Stronger Leadership 2012-108 (Issue Date: 08/20/2013)

3. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Los Angeles Unified should monitor school sites to ensure that they implement school safety programs.

1 November 2014 Fully Implemented

4. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Los Angeles Unified should measure the effectiveness of its school safety programs at both the district and school site levels.

1 November 2014 Fully Implemented

5. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Los Angeles Unified should ensure that school sites evaluate the effectiveness of the programs they choose to implement.

1 * Not Fully Implemented X

6. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Los Angeles Unified should resolve complaints within 60 calendar days regardless of the complaint process selected.

1 * Not Fully Implemented X
Riverside County
Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund: Local Governments Continue to Have Difficulty Justifying Distribution Fund Grants 2010-036 (Issue Date: 02/15/2011)

3. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should require that the county auditor review each grant application to ensure a rigorous analysis of a casino's impact and of the proportion of funding for the project provided by the grant. Benefit committees should consider a grant application only when the county auditor certifies that the applicant has quantified the impact of the casino and verifies that the grant funds requested will be proportional to the casino's impact.

2 Unknown Not Fully Implemented
Sacramento City Unified School District
School Safety and Nondiscrimination Laws: Most Local Educational Agencies Do Not Evaluate the Effectiveness of Their Programs, and the State Should Exercise Stronger Leadership 2012-108 (Issue Date: 08/20/2013)

8. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Sacramento City Unified should ensure that school site staff complete the training required under its anti-bullying policy.

1 June 2015 Not Fully Implemented

10. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Sacramento City Unified should measure the effectiveness of its school safety programs at both the district and school site levels.

1 December 2014 Not Fully Implemented

11. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Sacramento City Unified should ensure the impartial resolution of complaints by not assigning the investigation to site administrators or other staff specifically named in the complaint.

1 August 2014 Fully Implemented

13. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Sacramento City Unified should update its policies and procedures to calculate the state-mandated time limit for resolving complaints in accordance with state regulations.

1 October 2014 Not Fully Implemented

14. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Sacramento City Unified should resolve complaints within 60 calendar days regardless of the complaint process selected.

1 August 2014 Fully Implemented

15. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Sacramento City Unified should ensure that school sites follow the complaint procedures established in its policies.

1 * Not Fully Implemented X
Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System
Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System: Increased Transparency and Stronger Controls Are Necessary as It Focuses on Improving Its Financial Situation 2011-113 (Issue Date: 03/08/2012)

5. To help reduce its operating costs and improve its overall financial situation, the Health Care System should continue to try to modify its employee benefits, such as paid time off, so they are aligned with industry practice.

2 October 2015 Not Fully Implemented
San Diego County
Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund: Local Governments Continue to Have Difficulty Justifying Distribution Fund Grants 2010-036 (Issue Date: 02/15/2011)

4. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should require that the county auditor review each grant application to ensure a rigorous analysis of a casino's impact and of the proportion of funding for the project provided by the grant. Benefit committees should consider a grant application only when the county auditor certifies that the applicant has quantified the impact of the casino and verifies that the grant funds requested will be proportional to the casino's impact.

2 Will Not Implement Will Not Implement
Probationers' Domestic Violence Payments: Improved Processes for Managing and Distributing These Payments Could Increase Support for Local Shelters 2011-121 (Issue Date: 09/06/2012)

16. Los Angeles County, San Diego County, San Diego Court, and Santa Clara County should improve protocols for reviewing statutes that affect collection and distribution practices so that future changes can be acted upon.

2 August 2014 Fully Implemented
Santa Barbara County
Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund: Local Governments Continue to Have Difficulty Justifying Distribution Fund Grants 2010-036 (Issue Date: 02/15/2011)

5. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should require that the county auditor review each grant application to ensure a rigorous analysis of a casino's impact and of the proportion of funding for the project provided by the grant. Benefit committees should consider a grant application only when the county auditor certifies that the applicant has quantified the impact of the casino and verifies that the grant funds requested will be proportional to the casino's impact.

2 Will Not Implement Will Not Implement

26. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should require benefit committee filing officers to avail themselves of the free training provided by the FPPC so that the filing officers are aware of and meet their responsibilities under the political reform act. Counties should also adhere to FPPC guidelines for notifying filers of the need to submit statements of economic interests.

2 January 2012 Fully Implemented

29. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should ensure that benefit committees' conflict-of-interest codes comply with the political reform act by reviewing the act and their codes, and changing the codes as necessary to meet the act's requirements.

2 December 2013 Fully Implemented
Santa Clara County Mental Health Department
Mental Health Services Act: The State's Oversight Has Provided Little Assurance of the Act's Effectiveness, and Some Counties Can Improve Measurement of Their Program Performance 2012-122 (Issue Date: 08/15/2013)

20. Santa Clara County should review its existing MHSA contracts and by December 31, 2013, or as soon as is feasible, amend them as necessary to include plan goals.

1 July 2014 Fully Implemented

21. Santa Clara County should ensure that all MHSA invoices are adequately supported with information that demonstrates that MHSA services were provided.

1 November 2014 Not Fully Implemented
Shasta County
Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund: Local Governments Continue to Have Difficulty Justifying Distribution Fund Grants 2010-036 (Issue Date: 02/15/2011)

6. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should require that the county auditor review each grant application to ensure a rigorous analysis of a casino's impact and of the proportion of funding for the project provided by the grant. Benefit committees should consider a grant application only when the county auditor certifies that the applicant has quantified the impact of the casino and verifies that the grant funds requested will be proportional to the casino's impact.

2 June 2015 Not Fully Implemented

14. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should more rigorously review applications that are to be administered and spent by an entity other than the local government that applies for the funds. Specifically, benefit committees should require that each grant application clearly show how the grant will mitigate the impact of the casino on the applicant agency.

2 January 2012 Fully Implemented

30. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should ensure that benefit committees' conflict-of-interest codes comply with the political reform act by reviewing the act and their codes, and changing the codes as necessary to meet the act's requirements.

2 June 2015 Not Fully Implemented

* Contrary to the California State Auditor's determination, the auditee believes it has fully implemented the recommendation.

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