Thursday, May 29, 2008

State audit finds lapses in budget office

From the Chicago Tribune:
An audit of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's Office of Management and Budget found that the state's top fiscal office did not competitively bid some services and failed to maintain even the most basic records of major financial activities.

"These are problems which really should not occur in an office that is responsible for the management and oversight of all of state government," Auditor General William Holland said Wednesday.

"I don't know whether it is just general disregard or poor management, but if you are not accountable and transparent, you set a bad example for the rest of state government," Holland said.

The audit found 12 significant lapses of adequate controls over such things as contracts with other state agencies, travel expenditures, salary adjustments and the recording and reporting of state property.

In reviewing 21 contracts worth nearly $7.3 million, auditors found that the office failed to bid competitively for legal and other services, did not properly maintain documents and awarded contracts to bidders that did not receive the highest scores under bidding criteria.

For example, two legal services contracts to major law firms were not competitively bid. Freeborn & Peters was awarded a $50,000 contract in September 2005, while Barnes & Thornburg received a $40,000 contract in August 2005. By law, the state must bid all such professional service contracts that cost more than $20,000.

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