OLYMPIA – Although the Washington State Department of Transportation experienced delays and cost overruns as it developed a new tolling system, the agency followed state requirements and many leading practices, according to a new performance audit by the Office of the Washington State Auditor.
SAO's latest performance audit report looked at the Washington State Department of Transportation's (WSDOT) contracting processes for tolling. While that audit didn't involve local governments, WSDOT plays a large role in how they obtain state resources to improve local road systems. This got staff in SAO's Center for Government Innovation thinking about how much transportation funding WSDOT distributes statewide.
Local governments should be more data-driven and focused on results when addressing homelessness, according to a new performance audit by the Office of the Washington State Auditor.
Auditors reviewed the way two cities and two counties contracted for services aimed at alleviating homelessness. They found that the governments did take some steps to align their work with federal guidelines, such as consulting with stakeholders when considering the needs of people experiencing homelessness.
Washington has followed best practices in speeding the testing of sexual assault kits and has implemented a kit tracking system, a new performance audit by the Office of the Washington State Auditor found. However, a backlog of untested kits remains.
The Office of the Washington State Auditor's new performance audit – I-1163: Addressing testing barriers for home care aides – found that home care aides face several barriers to becoming certified, including access to fewer tests sites and long testing delays.
Employees and projects from the Office of the Washington State Auditor (SAO) were recently honored at the annual conference of the National State Auditors Association (NSAA) in Atlanta, Georgia.
Scott DeViney, who serves as Assistant Director of Quality Assurance at SAO, was honored with a President's Award for his contributions to NSAA's 2021 Peer Review Training Taskforce. With a small group of volunteers from other state audit offices, DeViney developed a series of training videos on the peer review process.
Today, the Office of the Washington State Auditor released a legislatively-mandated performance audit of ballot rejection in 10 Washington State counties during the 2020 general election.
In the counties reviewed, election officials followed the law in determining whether to reject a ballot. However, the likelihood that a voter's ballot will be rejected varied greatly by county. And ballots cast by some demographic groups – including younger voters, male voters, and those belonging to certain racial and ethnic groups – have higher rejection rates than others.
Washington's state and local governments possess countless IT systems that provide critical government services and handle vital and sometimes very personal data. The public expects government to do all it can to ensure that these systems are secure so critical services can be delivered and data stored in those systems is not lost, stolen or damaged.
The State Auditor's Office plays a unique role in keeping an independent eye on government IT security. We work with state and local governments to help improve their cybersecurity programs through audits and outreach activities.
SAO's Performance Audit team has more than 30 staff members who combine their unique professional and educational backgrounds to develop innovative approaches to helping Washington's government programs become more efficient and effective. Since 2005, our Performance Audit team has examined a variety of issues like workplace culture, student behavioral health prevention and intervention, bail practices, and IT security.
Today the Office of the Washington State Auditor released a first-of-its-kind performance audit in the state: an in-depth review of a large state agency's workplace culture.
The audit of the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) is also one of the first of its kind in the nation to use the tools of government performance auditing to examine how work environment affects an agency's ability to fulfill its mission.