How Well Is the GOMB Managing and Budgeting?

by Ashley Muchow If you missed the Auditor General’s release last week, you’ll be surprised to see the findings are far from negligible.  Based on all the grading standards I accepted as a student, it’s fair to say most teachers would have failed the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget on their most recent state audit. The...

by Ashley Muchow

If you missed the Auditor General’s release last week, you’ll be surprised to see the findings are far from negligible.  Based on all the grading standards I accepted as a student, it’s fair to say most teachers would have failed the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget on their most recent state audit.

The audit examined the department’s internal control and compliance for the two years ended June 30, 2009.  Some of the report’s findings include:

• The Office did not exercise adequate controls over contractual agreements.

• The Office did not correct errors in expenditure records detected during the reconciliation process.

What embellished this finding was the department’s reaction; the department provided the excuse that the Office’s processing system did not accommodate altering for corrections or voided transactions.  The audit kicked the Office’s excuse, saying “the use of a program that lacked the ability to post corrections or void transactions could result in the Office over-expending appropriated funds.”  I concur.

• The Office did not exercise adequate control over its travel functions.

The Office did not, in some cases, require employees to submit travel vouchers in accordance with Office policies, nor did the department carefully review travel vouchers to ensure consistency with travel support, reasonableness, and mathematical accuracy prior to payment.

Now, if this wasn’t the department that prepared the annual state budget and advised the Governor on revenue availability and resource allocation, this might not come as much of a surprise.  I have my doubts about the effectiveness of state agencies’ internal operations, but this one caught me unaware.  This is the office that “analyzes state agency programs and budgets and evaluates personnel and operating needs.”

It’s time they start budgeting and evaluating themselves.  Especially when the department’s Budget Director leads the pack in justifying a $6 billion income tax hike.