Two state agencies—the Department of Education and the Louisiana Workforce Commission—have come under fire by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor for sloppy bookkeeping and failing to keep track of federal grant funds and how they were spent.
In one of the two audits released last week, the LLA notes that for the fifth consecutive year the Department of Education did not comply with federal and state equipment management regulations, failed to properly tag and report items that were purchased with federal funds, and failed to properly safeguard its movable property—a shortcoming that cost the department more than $73,000 in stolen property that had been purchased with federal recovery dollars after Hurricane Katrina. The report does not state the type(s) of equipment stolen from the department or the site(s) from which it was stolen. But a spokesperson with the department says the equipment consisted of 49 computers that were purchased for and located offsite at 107 nonpublic schools that qualified for them under a federal grant program. “To put this in perspective, there were about 13,000 pieces of equipment in nonpublic schools that were purchased with these funds so these 49 computers represent just a fraction of the total,” says Rene Greer, communications director for the Department of Education. “As of today, the schools have replaced 19 of them.”
In a separate report, the auditor finds that for the third year in a row the Louisiana Workforce Commission, formerly the Louisiana Department of Labor, did not properly follow up on how grant recipients within the state spent federal funds that passed through LWC, nor did the agency retain adequate employer wage records for the Unemployment Insurance program. Those shortcomings resulted in nearly $250,000 in questionable unemployment claims. The audit also notes that LWC failed to submit quarterly reports to various federal agencies that issued it grants.
While the findings of both audits call into question the way the agencies are handling public dollars, neither report suggests intentional wrongdoing or criminal activity. Rather, the audits point to problems of sloppy bookkeeping, according to Beth Davis, assistant director of financial audits for the LLA, who says both agencies have been trying for several years to address the problems and are making progress.
“We have seen improvements, but it’s still a weakness,” she says. “It’s more a question of having adequate controls in place.”
At the Department of Education, Greer says “while these purchases represent just a fraction of the more than $5 billion the LDOE distributes, tracks and reports, the department recognizes its role to ensure all resources are appropriately dispersed and used to enrich the educational opportunities available to Louisiana students. As such we will address these findings by notifying the agency or nonpublic school immediately when an item is received so the process for tagging and reporting new items can begin immediately.”
LWC Communications Director Tom Guarisco says, “The Louisiana Workforce Commission has addressed and resolved all the issues raised in the report. The issues were administrative in nature, and they did not create any additional cost or expense for the state.”
Editor’s note: This story has been changed since its original publication.
