Inspector General raises staffing concerns after auditors flag over $2 million in questioned costs

The Government Operations & Fiscal Policy Committee heard from the Office of the Inspector General, which detailed recent output and a continuing staffing shortfall that the IG said limits audits and oversight capacity.

Staff told the committee the county executive proposed a same-services FY27 budget increase to cover nondiscretionary compensation changes; staff noted the OIG scored highly on the county’s operating-budget equity tool. The staff packet referenced Bill 11-19, adopted in October 2019, which expanded the OIG’s duties to require systematic, risk-based rotating reviews of executive-branch departments and mandated audits of high-risk contracts.

The Inspector General reported the office has completed 21 reports so far this fiscal year, issued 33 recommendations for improvement and "identified over $2,000,000 in questioned costs." The IG also said the office has handled more than 365 complaints (about 50 more than at the same time last year) and launched a real-time tracker on the OIG website that publishes the status of open recommendations daily.

Despite the workload—and a FY25–29 work plan that projects an ultimate staffing complement of 29 FTEs by FY29—the IG said the office has not received new audit-division staffing for four years and cannot meet the FY29 complement without added positions. The IG said outside contracting was considered but would be more expensive per hour than hiring staff and would not provide the same institutional knowledge.

Committee members asked whether the office can reach the projected staffing levels; the IG and staff said they cannot without personnel additions and emphasized the effect on audit rotation (an undesired multi-year delay) and on the office’s ability to complete mandated work. Members commended the IG’s public tracker and recommended forwarding the OIG budget to the full council.