Performance audits

Synonym
I-900
Initiative 900

State can focus more on building climate-resilient infrastructure to meet energy needs, audit finds

Washington has taken many steps to increase the development of renewable energy infrastructure, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However these investments are increasingly vulnerable to risks associated with changing climate conditions, such as wildfires, extreme winds, droughts and flooding.  

The Office of the Washington State Auditor reviewed the state’s efforts to adapt these new electricity-generating sites to future risks, and found three important areas for improvement:  

State engages with communities affected by cleanup efforts, but is rarely required to do so, audit finds

While the state is appropriately working with communities around some hazardous waste sites, community engagement requirements only apply to a fraction of the contaminated sites across Washington, according to a new performance audit. 

The audit, published today by the Office of the Washington State Auditor, examined how the Department of Ecology collects and incorporates feedback from the communities and Native American tribes living near contaminated sites. 

Dual employment is rare for Washington state workers, audit finds

Although rare, some Washington workers are employed by two state agencies at the same time, and the state can do more to ensure these instances are appropriately managed, according to a new performance audit by the Office of the Washington State Auditor.

Auditors reviewed dual employment in state agencies, in which one person holds two different positions. Out of 75,000 state workers, auditors identified 93 who were dual employed, with an average of six months of overlapping payroll payments.

Home ownership option found in some tribal housing projects has not yet been used, audit finds

A program intended to help people in low-income housing eventually buy their homes has yet to be used, according to a new performance audit by the Office of the Washington State Auditor.

The federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program is intended to encourage development of affordable rental housing, but a few program projects allow tenants to buy their homes. The Housing Finance Commission manages this program in Washington.

Innovative Washington, Oregon audits explore double Medicaid enrollment across state lines

Medicaid provides needed health care for more than one in four people in Washington, at a cost of about $19.6 billion a year. However, Washington also pays millions of dollars for Medicaid coverage of people already insured by other states, according to a new performance audit by the Office of the Washington State Auditor.