While credit cards have many benefits, they also create an increased risk for misuse, mismanagement and fraud. That’s why SAO recommends periodically performing a credit card cleanup to keep your program running efficiently and securely.
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Some contractors are banned from doing business with the federal government, and it’s your job to know who they are. If you use federal grant money to pay a banned contractor, you risk auditors questioning your spending. Even worse, you might have to repay that money to your federal grantors.
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Spring has sprung, and it’s time to start cleaning up your financial records from years’ past! Why not tackle the messy buildup in your vendor master file? This database file containing information about your government’s vendors needs a periodic scrubbing. Cleaning your vendor master file will require a well-coordinated plan. It’s likely that the project could span several months. To get you started, we’ve compiled some easy steps to follow.
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Piggybacking is the ability to use another government’s bid award without going through your own competitive process. It can be complicated, which is why we have updated our guide—Piggybacking under Washington State Law—to address your most common questions and alert you to changes in our guidance. Don’t worry: It still includes a step-by-step approach to piggybacking, as well as an optional checklist for you to use!
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Before hiring a contractor to work on your home, it’s wise to make sure they are licensed, bonded and insured. It helps to protect you if the contractor doesn’t complete work properly, if there are any damages, or if workers are injured while at your home. For governments, it’s not just wise—it’s required by law.
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Smaller governments frequently procure goods and services without a procurement manager. While smaller governments can get by without designated procurement managers for their daily operations, they occasionally take on larger projects like new building construction that can strain their limited resources.
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In 2019, the Legislature amended the statute to allow any public agency to use the bid of another public agency for its own purposes if the awarding agency met their own bidding requirements. This is a change to how our Office looks at piggybacking and group purchasing arrangements. For audit purposes, we would expect local governments to evaluate group purchasing contracts as outlined below.
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The Center for Government Innovation has published two new resources to help local governments identify best practices for two different, but possibly related areas: credit card programs and travel expenditures.
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The Center for Government Innovation has added two procurement-related resources to the Resources Database in recent months, one on piggybacking and the other on change order best practices.
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YAKIMA – The Office of the Washington State Auditor published two audits of the City of Wapato today, documenting significant violations of government standards. The accountability and financial audits include eight findings, an unusually high number and cause for concern. The State Auditor’s Office (SAO) also issued a letter to Wapato leadership responding to concerns that the public raised about the city. The reports come after SAO issued a fraud report in February detailing a $300,000 misappropriation in Wapato.
“These audits speak to a basic lack of accountability and transparency in the city,” said State Auditor Pat McCarthy. “It is important the State Auditor’s Office shine a light on issues that need public attention, and the situation in Wapato is deeply concerning.”
