Auditor’s office releases volume two of state audit
FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 28, 2014) – Kentucky Auditor Adam Edelen has released the second part of the annual statewide audit of the Commonwealth of Kentucky for fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, finding continued concerns at Kentucky Emergency Management.
The audit contains 36 findings with recommendations and notes more than $3.7 million in questioned costs.
Federal law dictates an audit of the state’s compliance with federal grant requirements. The amount of federal grant dollars expended in fiscal year 2013 was just under $9.3 billion. The amount of federal dollars expended in 2012 was just under $10 billion.
The audit contains 12 findings related to KYEM and its umbrella agency, the Department of Military Affairs. The Auditor’s office last August released a special examination that found KYEM employees were intimidated and threatened, documents were altered to hide disallowed expenditures, taxpayer dollars were used to pay for alcohol, entertainment and door prizes and conferences and procurement processes were ignored.
Five of the SSWAK II findings pertaining to federal grant money were from the special exam.
“I am frustrated that KYEM management continues to defend its abuses in the SSWAK II report, rather than own up to the problems that have long plagued that agency,” Edelen said. “I fear that’s an indication that management is not making the reforms needed to protect taxpayer dollars and ensure the agency isn’t distracted from its number one mission of public protection.”
The audit also found that the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet did not comply with the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires contractors and subcontractors to submit payrolls for each work week or pay period. Auditors reviewed contracts and payrolls for 12 contractors and 51 subcontractors and noted no payroll records had ever been submitted for four contractors and two subcontractors and various pay period information was missing for one contractor and four subcontractors.
“With work now underway on the massive, $2.6 billion Louisville Bridges Project, taxpayers and those who will be paying tolls are counting on the Transportation Cabinet to carefully monitor every single dollar,” Edelen said.
Volume one – an audit of Kentucky’s financial statements released in February – contained 40 findings with recommendations related to deficiencies in internal controls over financial reporting.
The full report can be found on the auditor’s website.
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