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Audit Objective

Determine if District officials approved purchases before items were ordered and if competition was sought for goods and services not subject to competitive bidding.

Key Findings

District officials did not:

• Seek competition for 16 of 20 professional service providers paid approximately $1.42 million.
• Obtain quotes for goods and services for 19 purchases totaling $70,634, as required by the District’s purchasing policy.
• Ensure that purchases of goods and services totaling $22,899 were made with prior approval, resulting in confirming purchase orders (POs).

Key Recommendations

District officials should:

• Follow the District’s procurement policy that requires the use of request for proposals to solicit professional services.
• Obtain verbal or written quotes when required by the purchasing policy.
• Issue and have approval for POs prior to ordering goods and services.

District officials agreed with our recommendations and indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.