2023-124 Local Streets and Roads Program
State Agencies and Cities Are Generally Following Requirements as They Attempt to Improve Conditions
Published: April 4, 2024Report Number: 2023-124
State Agencies and Cities Are Generally Following Requirements as They Attempt to Improve Conditions
When an audit is completed and a report is issued, auditees must provide the State Auditor with information regarding their progress in implementing recommendations from our reports at three intervals from the release of the report: 60 days, six months, and one year. Additionally, Senate Bill 1452 (Chapter 452, Statutes of 2006), requires auditees who have not implemented recommendations after one year, to report to us and to the Legislature why they have not implemented them or to state when they intend to implement them. Below, is a listing of each recommendation the State Auditor made in the report referenced and a link to the most recent response from the auditee addressing their progress in implementing the recommendation and the State Auditor’s assessment of auditee’s response based on our review of the supporting documentation.
Recommendations to the Legislature
Recommendation 1
To allow cities and counties that do not meet the maintenance‑of‑effort requirement enough time to plan and budget for additional local spending on streets and roads projects, the Legislature should amend state law to allow cities and counties two fiscal years, instead of one, to make up their shortfalls.
Status
pending
Recommendation 2
To ensure that cities and counties are appropriately held accountable to the maintenance‑of‑effort requirement, the Legislature should amend state law to clarify that the State Controller should only withhold an amount of program funds equivalent to the local underspending that its audits have found.
Status
pending
Recommendations to the State Controller’s Office
Recommendation 3
To ensure that it holds cities and counties accountable to state law and that they are not supplanting local spending with program funds, by October 2024, the State Controller should begin auditing cities and counties that it identifies as at risk of not meeting the maintenance‑of‑effort requirement. It should withhold program funds in the amount prescribed by law from cities and counties that it concludes have not complied with the requirement.
Status
pending
Recommendation 4
To ensure that it holds cities and counties accountable to state law and that they are not continuing to supplant local spending with program funds, the State Controller should by October 2024 revise its practice to only allow cities or counties to violate the requirement for two fiscal years, rather than continually, as under its current practice. After two years’ noncompliance, the State Controller should withhold program funds in accordance with state law.
Status
pending
