Fairfax County employees performed millions of dollars in repairs to public facilities without their bosses approving the work, an internal report has found.
The Facilities Management Department charged $11 million in fiscal 2009 for renovations and maintenance requested by other county departments, but department supervisors did not approve the time logs for the jobs — rife with “multiple irregularities” in billing, according to the audit.
“Without proper supervisory approvals the integrity of hours recorded cannot be assured,” the report says. “There is a risk that workers could log in incorrect hours or hours that they never worked.”
The department charged a flat rate of $30 an hour for making keys and cubicle name signs, among other tasks, a figure based on previous work rather than county-established guidelines.
But on multiple occasions workers billed county agencies $34 and $38 an hour for work without citing a reason for the steeper rate.
“Without supervisors reviewing time logs, you don’t know what these employees are really doing,” said Supervisor Pat Herrity, R-Springfield District.
“There is a trust issue,” added Supervisor Jeff McKay, D-Lee, calling the lack of accountability a “step being skipped that was unacceptable.”
However, McKay said he believed the work was being done for convenience rather than trying to game the system.
In some cases, material and labor costs were tabulated after work orders were closed and purchases were not backed up by vendor receipts.
The report found that some key-making jobs varied between six minutes and two hours, which “raises concerns about the fairness of charges” and could create a “perception within county departments that there is inequity in charging practices.”
Department workers defended the time discrepancy, saying some keys are more difficult to duplicate than others.
In nearly half of all studied cases, charges were not delivered to departments in a “timely manner.”
Department officials did not return calls seeking comment.
The department has since implemented a comprehensive policy, said county spokeswoman Merni Fitzgerald, reviewing the time logs and billing agencies within 10 days of service.
“The audit report did find a number of inconsistencies,” she said. “Improvements have been made.”
