The D.C. inspector general’s audit blueprint for next fiscal year heavily targets Medicaid, tax collections, procurement and city spending of roughly $900 million in federal stimulus — all areas of high risk or extensive past problems.
The 65 investigations proposed by the Office of the Inspector General blanket most aspects of the District government, from payroll and the lottery to D.C. Public School consulting contracts and construction of the $133 million forensics lab.
Each agency or service under the microscope is there for a reason, be it a constituent tip, a newspaper article or a request from an elected official, said William DiVello, assistant inspector general for audits.
“We plan on being heavy on Medicaid this year, procurement and, to the extent we can, we really need to make some inroads on the stimulus,” said DiVello, whose staff is down four, to 36, due to budget cuts.
The inspector general’s priorities, DiVello said, are “right in line with the risks facing the District.”
The $2 billion Medicaid program is a “serious problem,” the inspector general noted, one that threatens “the solvency of some District agencies.” While Medicaid claims are the subject of an ongoing review, in 2010 auditors hope to investigate whether the District’s 200,000 benefit recipients were correctly enrolled and eligible for the benefits they received.
Dr. Julie Hudman, director of the year-old Department of Health Care Finance, said in a statement that improvements in agency Medicaid billing, program controls, claims processing and provider accountability “will be reflected in the 2010” audits.
The Office of Tax and Revenue also remains a high priority for auditors. But the inspector general appears to have moved past the real-property tax office — where Harriett Walters schemed to steal $48 million — to look more broadly into the collection efforts of OTR and, specifically, to assess the effectiveness of its hired-gun collection firms.
Each District tax collector is assigned up to 3,000 delinquent cases a year but can manage no more than 400, the inspector general said, citing discussions with OTR officials. But tax office spokeswoman Natalie Wilson said 57 percent of delinquent cases are handled in-house and 43 percent by MuniServices LLC.
“I don’t know where the IG has gotten its information,” Wilson said.
The Examiner’s June 22 article about thousands of dollars missing from the Crime Victims Compensation Fund spurred a planned inspector general investigation into the police department’s handling of the fund. A proposed review of the Department of Health’s food and safety hygiene inspections — whether 17 “sanitarians” are adequately inspecting 4,700 eateries — was initiated internally.
