Transcript Smarter Contracting Saves Taxpayer Dollars

GRANT
OVERSIGHT
ISSUES AND FUTURE CHALLENGES
Presented by Joe Comé
Deputy Principal Assistant Inspector General for Auditing and Evaluation
AASHTO Internal/External Audit Conference
Savannah, Georgia
July 12, 2012
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
WHO ARE THOSE AUDITORS?
Office of Inspector General
Federal Granting Agency
State Oversight
Grantees
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
Single Audits (CPAs)
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
“FORMAL ORGANIZATION CHART”
Regional Offices
Audit
• Atlanta, GA
• Baltimore, MD
• Cambridge, MA
• Fort Worth, TX
• New York, NY
• Oklahoma City, OK
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
Investigations
• Cambridge, MA
• Chicago, IL
• Fort Worth, TX
• New York, NY
• San Francisco, CA
• Sunrise, FL
• Washington DC
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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“LESS FORMAL DESCRIPTION”
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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AVIATION
Wildlife Hazard Mitigation
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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BRIDGES
Interstate 35W Bridge (2007)
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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TUNNELS
Central Artery Tunnel (2006)
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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TRANSIT
Effects of Hurricane Sandy on New York’s Subway System
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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HIGHWAY PROJECTS
Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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BIG MONEY
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Audits
• 143 audit reports
• 385 recommendations
• Over $3 billion in financial recommendations
Investigations
• 82 indictments
• 73 convictions
$
41
DOT OIG’s return for
each budget dollar spent
in fiscal year 2013
• $98 million in fines, restitutions, and recoveries.
On track for similar results in fiscal year 2014:
• Over $532 million financial recommendations
• Over $1.3 billion in fines, restitutions, recoveries,
and forfeitures—the bulk of which comes from
Toyota’s settlement with the Federal Government.
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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DOT GRANTS
In this tight budget environment, taxpayers expect the
Government to be a good steward of tax dollars spent
on DOT grants.
DOT’s Estimated Grant Obligations
FY 2013
$100.1 billion
Source: OMB Object Class Analysis, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2013
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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GRANT OVERSIGHT ISSUES
GRANT AGREEMENTS
Issues :
• Missing elements
• Unclear or unspecified milestones
• Undefined terms
• Inconsistency between agreements and other documents
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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MEASURING PERFORMANCE
Issues :
• Lack of outcome measures to determine project success relative to
program goals
• Plenty of upfront goals but less after the fact measures
• Data for measuring program success not collected or not collected
consistently
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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SUPPORTING EXPENDITURES
Issues:
• Expenditures that are not allowable
• Expenditures not credited to proper account
• Problems with indirect costs
• Poor documentation for expenditures
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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OTHER DOCUMENTATION
Issues:
• Lack of support for major management decisions and modifications
to projects
• Poor documentation of change orders and rationale
• Contract files issues
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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TRAINING
Issues:
• Lack of training plan
• Insufficient training on key tasks
• Knowledge of controls
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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REMEDIES AND SANCTIONS
Issues:
• Remedies available and situations that warrant use
• When to use tracking
• Feedback considered when making and amending grants
• Reluctance to use enforcement authority for noncompliance
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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FRAUD AWARENESS AND REPORTING
Issues:
• Knowledge of fraud potential
• How to report fraud
• Current fraud issues related to Transportation projects
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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FUTURE PLANS AND
CHALLENGES
We’re going to parachute in and do a surprise audit,
but I want to keep the whole thing low key.
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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OIG, DOT AUDITS UNDERWAY
OR COMING SOON
FHWA-RELATED AUDITS
UNDERWAY
• ARRA project closeout
• Oversight of major projects
• Oversight of States’ use of Federal-aid
funds through the Financial Integrity
Review and Evaluation Program (FIRE)
• Oversight of preliminary engineering on
highway projects
• Oversight of the Bridge Inspection
Program
• Implementation of OIG Bridge Program
recommendations and
MAP-21 Bridge provisions
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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FTA-RELATED AUDITS
UNDERWAY
• National Transit Database
• Oversight of at-risk transit agency
grantees
• Efforts to deploy low or no emission buses
and other transit-focused technologies
• Hurricane Sandy grant award and
oversight processes
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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FUTURE CHALLENGES
• Evolving nature of Federal audit mandates
• Everything is an IT audit
• “Super Circular” impacts
• Innovative financing requires innovative auditing
• The dream of performance budgeting
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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QUESTIONS?
We don’t want you to view this panel as being in any way
confrontational, so please ask questions.
U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General
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