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Audit Objective

Determine whether District officials sought competition for the purchase of good and services not subject to competitive bidding.

Key Findings

District officials did not always seek competition for purchases that are not subject to competitive bidding. Officials also did not comply with the District’s procurement policy.

• The purchasing agent did not effectively perform her procurement duties.
• Officials did not always seek competition for professional services. No competition was sought for the services procured from five professional service providers totaling $89,421.
• No written or verbal quotes were obtained for the purchase of goods and services from 13 vendors who were paid $73,032.

Key Recommendations

• The purchasing agent should oversee the purchasing program and ensure purchases are made in compliance with the District’s policy.
• Periodically issue requests for proposals (RFPs) to solicit competition when seeking professional services.
• Obtain verbal and written quotes as required by the procurement policy and ensure that all proper documentation is maintained.

District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they planned to initiate corrective action. Appendix B includes our comment on issues raised in the District’s response letter.