A former state Employment Security Department (ESD) employee misappropriated at least $315,282 in 2020, according to a fraud report released today by the Office of the Washington State Auditor. The investigation also identified $121,503 in questionable unemployment benefit payments associated with the same employee.
Updated: December 9, 2021
The State Auditor's Office will start the annual process of updating the BARS Manuals (GAAP and Cash) on Monday, Dec. 13, 2021.
During the updates, sections of both online BARS Manuals will be unavailable for your use. Once updated, they will be fully available for accounting and reporting guidance related to fiscal year 2021 and forward.
We will notify local government audit contacts via email when we have fully updated the BARS Manuals.
While the city of Wapato's financial safeguards have improved somewhat since the city's last audits, the Office of the Washington State Auditor found significant weaknesses in two audits released today.
“The city had a lot of ground to make up in instituting appropriate polices and controls after our last round of audits. Nevertheless, the public expects all governments to be accountable at all times,” State Auditor Pat McCarthy said. “I am concerned by the pace of improvement in Wapato.”
Budgeting and planning season is here for local governments that have a Dec. 31 fiscal year-end. With 2022 on the horizon, some governments might be anticipating increases to certain revenues or planning changes to salaries and benefits. Our Financial Intelligence Tool's (FIT) “Add Projection” feature allows governments to adjust their known or anticipated revenues and expenditures, and then project those amounts into the future. Continue reading to learn how to access this feature and start projecting today.
How to create a projection
With new annual report filings from nearly 200 governments across the state since June 30, we're excited to share our first quarterly update of the 2020 fiscal year financial data in the Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT).
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.
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) established the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (CSLFRF) program, administered by the U.S. Treasury, Assistance Listing Number 21.027. One eligible use of these program funds allows governments to replace lost revenue in order to avoid cuts in their services.
Today the State Auditor's Office released an accountability audit of the City of Seattle, which included a review of the city's contract with Freedom Project and its subcontractor, King County Equity Now.
The audit determined the process the city used to award the contract was concerning. The audit resulted in a letter to city management, which outlined the issues auditors identified and their recommended improvements.
Today Gov. Inslee announced most state employees will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment, and he encouraged separately elected officials to adopt the same approach.
The Office of the Washington State Auditor will follow that proclamation. Everyone who works at SAO will be required to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18, with exceptions only for health and religious reasons.
OLYMPIA – Emergency federal unemployment programs launched early in the COVID-19 pandemic included provisions that opened state unemployment benefits to fraud, the Office of the Washington State Auditor found in three audits released today.
While Washington was not alone in being targeted, the state Employment Security Department continues to struggle in answering customer questions, investigating suspected fraud and retrieving important data from its systems, the audits found.