In their annual report to the General Assembly, the Auditors of Public Accounts, a legislative agency, are seeking broader powers in whom they can audit and when it can conduct audits. The agency would also like to see changes in the state’s whistleblower laws.
One major change the auditors seek is the ability to audit foundations created by state law that don’t submit to full audits of its books. Auditors would also like to see audits mandated within six months of a foundation’s fiscal year ending. They specifically cited the Connecticut Public Health Foundation Inc. which did not have a full audit completed for any fiscal year since its creation in March 2004.
In a cost-cutting move, the auditors also seek the ability to conduct audits of other agencies instead of outside firms being brought in. They said the practice in some cases could be duplicative.
The auditors pointed to low compliance with their recommendations. In their report, they said their staff completed 41 audits during 2015. A total of 435 audit recommendations were made, but the agencies implemented approximately 43 percent of their recommendations.
Among the recommendations, the auditors want to see a limit on the conditions that may be used to justify a waiver from competitive bidding when services are procured under a personal service agreement.
The report also looks at whistleblower complaints. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2015, auditors received 43 complaints covering such matters as alleged misuse of state funds, employee misconduct, personnel issues and violations of federal or state law. That was nine more than in 2014.
The auditors would like to see a whistleblower system set up for the state’s probate courts. No mechanism is currently in place. State department’s human resources directors should also become mandated reporters of ethics violations, the auditors said.
