Date: September 27, 2013 To: Saundra Kee Borges, Acting Chief Operating Officer From: H. Patrick Campbell, Chief Auditor Tele: 860.757.9951
HP
City Of Hartford Capital Improvement Project Management and Administration Audit Report 1403 I. Executive Summary
In accordance with our audit plan for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, we completed an examination in July 2013 of the Management and Administration of City of Hartford Capital Improvement Projects. The purpose of the examination was to evaluate and test internal accounting and operating controls, the accuracy and propriety of transactions processed, the degree of compliance with established operating policy and procedures, and to recommend improvements where required. The results of our audit were reviewed with K. Burnham, Former Director, Department of Public Works; T. Deller, Director, Department of Development Services, J. Molleda, Former Director, Finance Department; A. Matta, City Architect, Department of Public Works; and, other responsible members of operating management. The summary which follows includes only the exceptions disclosed and recommended operating improvements. As noted in the details that follow, management has noted actions taken or planned, including timeframes, to resolve each finding and/or recommendation in this report. We thank Department of Public Works, Department of Development Services, and Finance Department management and staff for their cooperation and courtesies extended to us during our audit. Background
Three City of Hartford (City) departments are involved in the management and administration of the City’s Capital Improvement
Project (CIP) program. The Department of Development Services is responsible for CIP program process management; the Department of Public Works is primarily responsible for CIP program construction management; and, the Finance Department is primarily responsible for the CIP program fiscal management. The projects fall into one of six major categories: Public Safety, Public Facilities, Parks and Recreation, Infrastructure, Development and Education Facilities. The MUNIS Financial Management System (MUNIS) is used to account for and control CIP financial activity. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, the CIP budget totaled approximately $158 million. For the six months ended December 31, 2012, more than $48 million in CIP funds had been expended. General In general, we found that while the Department of Public Works had fairly extensive policies and procedures relating to the CIP program and process, we noted that policies, procedures and controls relating to a number of key CIP processes were either not fully documented and/or needed improvement. This included, but was not limited to, periodically performing reviews of and following-up on and closing-out older