Auditor Finds City of Seattle Should Improve Internal Controls over Contracting and Purchasing

The Washington State Auditor's Office recently issued findings that the City of Seattle should improve its internal controls over its contracting and purchasing functions.

The audit noted the following areas of concern:

• One public works project bypassed the City's centralized contracting services group and did not comply with competitive bidding requirements. The City was encouraged to establish internal controls to prevent this type of activity in the future.
  
  
• A change order increased the value of a public works project from $138,258 to a total of $402,557. The auditor found that the change order work was unrelated to the original contract. The City responded that they believed the change order was appropriate.
  
  
• The Seattle Public Library, which is governed by its separate Board of Trustees, did not verify that contractors on public works projects met the mandatory bidder responsibility criteria (contractor registration, etc.) prior to award of public works projects, and did not obtain the required "Statements of Intent to Pay Prevailing Wages" from subcontractors prior to paying the contractors.
  
  
• The City continued to pay one vendor more than $500,000 even after a blanket contract for water meters had expired.
  
  
• The City paid one vendor $108,000 without a contract and without any competitive bidding as required.

To read the complete seven page audit report, including the City's response to the findings, click on this link to the State Auditor's Office.

If you are interested in having me perform a pre-audit of your contracting practices, or if you need assistance in responding to recommendations from an audit, please contact me.