Audit Update: City improved commitments to voters, but implementation hasn’t been publicly reported

In our 2019 report, “The City needs to make realistic commitments to voters and ensure they are delivered,” we found the City did not consistently assess the feasibility of tax and bond commitments it put on the ballot, used unclear language to describe commitments to voters, and didn’t monitor programs to help ensure commitments were delivered. We recommended that City Council make improvements before it referred additional measures.

We assessed the status of the recommendations one year after the report was published, focusing on the Parks Operating Levy and Fixing our Streets Two, which Council referred to the ballot. We found it had made progress. The City has not asked voters to approve new funding measures since November 2020.

The status of the recommendations has not changed since our last follow up. One recommendation is in-process, one has been partially implemented, and one is fully implemented. Bureau managers report that oversight committees have monitored early implementation of accountability commitments for the Parks Levy and Fixing our Streets Two. The committees have not published reports but say they plan to later in 2022. Parks assessed the costs and administrative burdens to implement planned accountability measures included in the Parks Levy. Council did not direct Transportation to do so before placing the second Fixing our Streets item on the ballot. The commitments made to voters in both City referred measures were specific and measurable.

One recommendation in process

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• We recommended that City Council specify the position or body responsible for monitoring accountability commitments. Early verification that accountability measures are implemented, and ongoing monitoring to assess if they are operating as intended should be included in their duties. Public reporting about programs paid for by the new taxes or bonds should include this information.
  
  Parks and Recreation and Transportation established oversight committees for the Parks Levy and Fixing our Streets Two. The oversight committees have monitored early implementation of the programs, but neither committee has released a public report, staff said. The Levy Oversight Committee plans to release its report in the fall. Transportation staff said the Fixing our Streets Oversight committee aims to release its report in May.

One recommendation partially implemented

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• We recommended that City Council direct bureaus to assess the administrative burdens and costs to implement planned accountability measures to ensure that they are feasible. These assessments should be documented so that the meaning and intent behind commitments can be referenced when the program is implemented. The fiscal impact statement is one existing tool that should be considered.
  
  Before placing the Parks Levy on the ballot, Portland Parks and Recreation assessed and documented the administrative burdens and costs for annual reports, a public oversight committee, and independent audits for the Parks Operating Levy. Parks also estimated and documented the costs for the staff positions needed to coordinate the new levy and administer the new services it funded.  Parks staff said the Bureau will continue to track these costs as they are incurred.
  
  Transportation staff said that Council did not direct them to assess the administrative burdens and costs of the accountability measures for Fixing our Streets Two, so the bureau did not do so before the measure was placed on the ballot, which runs counter to the purpose of the recommendation. Council has not directed the bureau to do so since we reported this in our one-year follow up.

One recommendation implemented

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• We recommended that City Council make commitments in the ballot title and explanatory statement to voters that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and when appropriate, time-bound.
  
  Parks specified the services the levy would fund in the explanatory statement. The commitments were measurable and appeared to be achievable and realistic. Parks staff said the Bureau is developing a performance measure for each commitment to track progress.
  
  Transportation specified in the ballot title improvements the Fixing Our Streets Two tax would fund. The commitments were measurable and appeared to be achievable and realistic. The bureau omitted the percentage split between paving and safety improvements that proved difficult to implement during the first iteration of Fixing our Streets.

View the 2019 audit report and recommendations and our 1-year follow up report.

Visit our online dashboard to track the status of recommendations from other reports

​Audit Team: Jenny Scott, Performance Auditor III