News and notices

The Auditor’s Office found evidence of waste and inefficiency in City Operations’ hiring of contractors as temporary staff. The City paid $650,000 in general fund dollars to contractors that did not have the expertise to complete the intended, urgent work and the work was delayed by a year.

A recent hotline investigation found inefficiency and waste in the City’s failure to award grants from Portland International Raceway–North Portland Trust Fund. The City has not awarded grants from the Fund since 2020.

The Auditor’s Office found evidence of waste and inefficiency in Civic Life’s handling of a grant non-compliance issue and the City’s grant management. Civic Life spent more money than intended and disregarded City policy and the City did not foster communication between bureaus.

The Auditor's Office found evidence of waste and inefficiency due to the lack of a formal agreement and Civic Life bypassing City financial policies in the management of the Kenton Firehouse. Auditors also found that the lack of documented rental transactions risked the appearance of fraud.

Contract managers receive more training and guidance, but the Joint Office does not plan to separate duties as recommended.

The Auditor’s Office found evidence of waste and inefficiency in project management stemming from unclear responsibilities and miscommunication throughout a curb replacement project.

The Auditor’s Office found evidence of waste and abuse when investigating tips about vehicle use and outside employment in the Transportation Bureau. We shared our findings and recommendations with the Transportation Bureau.

Some progress made, but Fire Bureau changed rules to allow washing personal vehicles with City water despite Auditor’s finding of government waste.

The Auditor’s Office found evidence of inefficiency when investigating a tip about sole source contracting by the Community Safety Division. We shared our findings and recommendations to Community Safety and Procurement Services, which provided guidance and training to the Division.

The Auditor’s Office Fraud Hotline provides City employees and members of the public a way to confidentially report suspected fraud, waste, and abuse of position by or against the City.