State & Local Reports

OIG assessed how well the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) monitors facilities that pollute the air. We found that the CDPH was not meeting its internal air-quality inspection frequency goals and was not ensuring that facilities annually renew their required Certificates of Operation. Between 2015 and 2017, CDPH met its inspection frequency goal for only 17% of the facilities it intended to visit annually. In 2017, only 48% of the facilities in CDPH’s inspection and permit system obtained the required Certificate of Operation. CDPH agreed with OIG’s recommendations to strengthen its permit and inspection program by developing inspection priorities and goals based on factors such as public health data and violation patterns. The Department also agreed to develop a Certificate of Operation enforcement system that takes advantage of the Department’s current data to ensure facilities renew on time and pay the correct amount.We also found that CDPH did not ensure that violations identified by inspectors were corrected. Of the 30 violation warnings the Department issued from September 2017 to September 2018, we found that 12 went unresolved. The Department agreed with OIG’s recommendation to adjust its process to ensure that violation warnings are monitored by supervisors and addressed by inspectors in a timely manner.

OIG evaluated the Department of Fleet and Facility Management’s (2FM) maintenance of the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) vehicle fleet to determine whether it was attaining 95% fleet availability and whether 2FM was performing preventive maintenance in a timely manner. 2FM maintains approximately 3,000 vehicles on behalf of CPD. OIG determined that that 2FM’s inaccurate data prevented the Department from assessing how effectively it managed the police fleet. In response to our audit findings and recommendations, 2FM stated that it has improved data quality to calculate availability.We also found that in 2017 2FM performed only 12.9% of preventive maintenance in a timely manner, primarily due to delayed requests from 2FM for CPD to deliver vehicles to its garages.

A Special Report outlining the cost savings from the Delaware volunteer fire service to Delaware Tax Payers

Why this Audit? In accordance with 29 Del. C. §2906 and §6058, under the direction of The Auditor of Accounts (AOA), Belfint, Lyons, & Shuman, P.A. performed a financial statement audit of the State of Delaware Deferred Compensation Plan, which comprise the statements of fiduciary net position as of December 31, 2018 and 2017.

Why this Audit? In accordance with 29 Del. C. §2906 and §6058, under the direction of the Auditor of Accounts (AOA), Belfint, Lyons, & Shuman P.A. performed a financial statement audit of the State of Delaware Match Plan, which comprise the statements of fiduciary net position as of December 31, 2018 and 2017.

OIG audited the Department of Law’s (DOL) process for notifying people of sanitation code violations cited by the Department of Streets and Sanitation, such as overflowing garbage containers or uncut weeds. The Collections, Ownership, and Administrative Litigation (COAL) division of DOL is responsible for identifying the owners of properties cited by DSS for such violations. Once COAL verifies the correct owner, it sends a notice of violation. The objective of the audit was to determine the average number of days from alleged violation to notification and why, in some cases, the process took more than a year.For sanitation code violations that occurred in 2016 and 2017, DOL notified property owners an average of 289 days—more than 9 months—after the alleged violation. In 63.2% of cases, it took DOL 6 to 12 months to notify property owners and, in 23.8% of cases, DOL did not provide notice until a year or more had passed. Fewer than 2% of notifications were sent within one month of the violation.OIG concluded that the average 9-month delay in notification was due primarily to DOL’s large backlog of alleged sanitation code violations. Once COAL staff are assigned a violation, it took just a few days to identify the property owner and send the notice.