New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today the following audits and examinations have been issued:

Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS): Oversight of Residential Domestic Violence Programs (2017-S-16)

Based on the amount and quality of information provided by OCFS, auditors determined OCFS central office does not maintain adequate oversight of domestic violence (DV) residences. OCFS officials placed constraints on the audit, including delays in and denial of access to records needed to evaluate the effectiveness of their oversight. As a result, there is considerable risk that material information concerning OCFS’ oversight of DV programs was withheld from auditors.

Office of General Services (OGS): Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Program Implementation (2017-F-28) (Follow-up)

An initial audit released in September 2016 found OGS had made substantial progress carrying out its responsibilities to implement the program. However, the agency had not yet developed a written, comprehensive statewide plan for implementing the program. In a follow up, auditors found the agency had addressed the problems identified in the initial audit.

Department of Health: Medicaid Program: Inappropriate Payments Related to Procedure Modifiers (2016-S-63)

Auditors identified about $2.6 million in inappropriate payments made to providers for evaluation and management services for surgery patients from Jan. 1, 2012 to March 31, 2017.

Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services: Continuity of Operations Planning (2017-S-33)

The division is responsible for coordinating emergency management planning efforts in the state. The division encourages and supports state agency efforts to develop agency-specific Continuity of Operations Plans (COOPs), which each state agency is required to have in place for each of its facilities, and has developed a series of guidance documents intended to help agencies prepare COOPs. Auditors tested of a sample of 11 state agencies, finding that they had incorporated certain features of COOP best practices. However, auditors identified some opportunities for improvements.

Division of Housing and Community Renewal: Enforcement of the Mitchell-Lama Surcharge Provisions (2017-S-12)

While some exceptions were noted, surcharges were generally properly calculated and assessed for the tested transactions at the sampled developments. However, there were significant deficiencies in the practices used to confirm the accuracy of tenants’ self-reported income at two (Co-op City and Rochdale Village) of the three developments reviewed.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA): Staten Island Railway (SIR): Selected Safety and Security Equipment at Train Stations (2017-S-84)

From Jan. 1, 2014 through Sept. 12, 2017, SIR did not have written preventive maintenance procedures for security equipment installed at stations. For the period Oct. 1, 2014 to May 31, 2017, a review of the inspection records provided showed that some inspections were not done. In October 2007, the MTA started a project to improve customer security. There were significant delays that prevented some equipment from becoming fully operational.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority: New York City Transit: Selected Safety and Security Equipment at Subway Stations (2016-S-92)

Auditors determined that from Jan. 1, 2014 to Sept. 30, 2016, not all of the MTA’s New York City Transit unit’s security equipment’s scheduled preventive maintenance activities were performed. For example, auditors reviewed all 223 cameras at ten subway stations and found that 31 percent expected preventive maintenance visits for closed circuit TV cameras and their affiliated monitors were not done. Auditors also found that of the 9,223 trouble calls for cameras and recording devices reported from Jan. 1, 2014 to Sept. 30, 2016, 26 percent took longer than the three-day target to be repaired or addressed.

State Education Department: Alternatives For Children: Compliance with the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2017-S-44)

For the three fiscal years ended June 30, 2015, auditors identified $253,494 in ineligible costs that the school claimed for state reimbursement including $122,966 in salary costs that were improperly charged directly to the programs it runs for the state. Auditors determined those costs were administrative in nature and should have been allocated across all of Alternatives’ programs.

State Education Department: Interdisciplinary Center for Child Development: Compliance with the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2017-S-31)

For the three fiscal years ended June 30, 2015, auditors identified $453,670 in reported costs that did not comply with the requirements for reimbursement, including $274,830 in a less-than-arm’s-length lease transaction where the reimbursed costs exceeded the owner’s actual cost and $176,793 in compensation related to excess staffing of teacher aides/assistants.

State Education Department: School for Language and Communication Development: Compliance with the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2017-S-59)

For the three fiscal years ended June 30, 2015, auditors identified $38,741 in ineligible costs the school reported for state reimbursement. The ineligible costs included $28,271 in pension benefits for administrative employees that exceeded the benefits available to direct care preschool employees.

Department of Taxation and Finance: Property Tax Credits (2018-BSE8-01)

Auditors identified and returned 15,313 questionable or inappropriate property tax credits for $5,779,567 due to calculation errors, deceased taxpayers, or duplicate payments or home owners or properties that were not eligible for the credits.

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