Miami Beach inspector general outlines audits, flags contract monitoring and resort-tax recoveries

Inspector General Joseph Sanorino presented highlights of the Office of the Inspector General's annual report to the Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee, describing major audits and recurring oversight themes and urging more active contract monitoring by city management.

Sanorino said the marina audit found a disagreement on what contractors' gross revenue included, producing an estimated shortfall of about $660,000 that prompted negotiations. He said administration negotiators worked with the city attorney to produce a settlement package of combined benefits the administration valued at roughly $4.6 million; the OIG emphasized that the recovery would not have happened without audit scrutiny.

The OIG also reviewed resort-tax audits, reporting roughly $3.9 million in assessed unpaid resort taxes last year, with an example recovery from Fontainebleau event audits of $671,000. Other audit topics included business-tax-receipt (BTR) insurance compliance (staff must improve verification at renewal), waste-hauler and demolition (CND) audits, and an investigation of a no-bid contract (Poseidon) that found inadequate due diligence.

On tools and methods, the OIG said it is expanding use of data analytics to target audits and is experimenting cautiously with AI because of concerns about sensitive information. "We do have some usage of AI in audits," the chief auditor said, but added offices are proceeding cautiously.

Sanorino recommended that the city improve mid-level contract monitoring and spot checks to prevent recurring revenue leakage. He said the OIG will continue to work with the administration to identify monitoring candidates and to follow up on audit recommendations.

The committee heard the item and recorded it as heard and closed; no committee action was required.