New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today the following audits have been issued.

Department of Agriculture and Markets – Protection of Managed Pollinators (Honey Bees) (Follow-Up) (2023-F-43) 

Honey bees are essential to the agricultural industry for the pollination services they provide. The State developed the New York State Pollinator Protection Plan in 2016 to address the high loss of pollinators in the State. A prior audit, issued in January 2023, found that the Department of Agriculture and Markets (Ag&Mkts) could strengthen its actions to combat disease and parasitic organisms within colonies by including additional tests for certain diseases and could improve its efforts to ensure honey bees entering the State are healthy and free from disease. Additionally, Ag&Mkts did not have support or reasonable assurance that it had identified the full population of active apiaries in the State, which is necessary for thorough monitoring and inspection purposes. Ag&Mkts made progress in addressing the issues identified in the initial audit report, implementing both recommendations.

Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance – Reimbursement of Homeless Shelter Providers – Rescue Mission Alliance of Syracuse (Follow-Up) (2024-F-2) 

The Onondaga County Department of Social Services contracted with the not-for-profit Rescue Mission Alliance of Syracuse (Rescue Mission) to provide homeless services. The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) is responsible for reviewing each shelter’s operating budget, working with the local departments of social services (Local Districts) to ensure that all required documents have been included, and assessing budgeted operating costs to verify that they are reasonable and necessary. A prior audit, issued in October 2022, found that, outside of OTDA’s oversight processes for the review and approval of shelter budgets, OTDA had not taken any action thereafter to ensure that shelters’ actual costs claimed for reimbursement complied with the approved budget, State laws and regulations, or OTDA’s own policies. OTDA made some progress addressing the issues from the original report, recovering an overpayment and establishing a system of monitoring controls over Local Districts. Of the initial report’s four recommendations, two were implemented, one was partially implemented, and one was not implemented.

Department of Corrections and Community Supervision – Oversight of Transportation Services and Expenses (Follow-Up) (2023-F-37) 

Many of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision’s (DOCCS) employees operate its vehicles in its day-to-day operations. Five of its 44 correctional facilities, as well as its Central Office and seven regional offices that provide support services for enrollees, exclusively use a centralized procurement contract (Contract) for fleet management and repair services. A prior audit, issued in June 2022, found DOCCS performed limited to no central monitoring of payments made through its Contractor and did not monitor in-house maintenance expenses, instead relying on each facility or office for accurate reporting. DOCCS officials made some progress in addressing the issues identified in the initial report, taking steps to implement procedures to monitor the Contractor’s performance and implementing a process to ensure maintenance costs are reasonable and comply with requirements. Of the initial report’s seven recommendations, two have been implemented, four have been partially implemented, and one has not been implemented.

New York City Department of Finance – Citywide Payment Services and Standards – Controls Over Payments (2022-N-2) 

The New York City Department of Finance (DOF) Citywide Payments Services and Standards unit administers a centralized payment repository for accepting payments made to City agencies (System) intended to allow agencies to focus on their core business while helping them save time and money. Auditors found that DOF could improve controls and monitoring for its System to ensure payments are promptly reconciled. Further, they found that DOF does not attempt to determine whether the System promotes time and cost savings for agencies despite these savings being a stated goal of the System.

Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance – Reimbursement of Homeless Shelter Providers – Westhab Inc.’s Coachman Family Center (Follow-Up) (2024-F-1) 

The Westchester County Department of Social Services contracted with the not-for-profit Westhab Inc. (Westhab) to operate Coachman Family Center as a certified shelter for families with children. The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) is responsible for reviewing each shelter’s operating budget, working with the local departments of social services (Local Districts) to ensure that all required documents have been included, and assessing budgeted operating costs to verify that they are reasonable and necessary. A prior audit, issued in March 2022, found that OTDA was not adequately monitoring and properly approving reimbursements for Westhab’s homeless shelter program, nor had OTDA established an effective budget review process for shelter budgets. OTDA officials made some progress in addressing the issues identified during the initial audit, recovering overstated depreciation and establishing a system of monitoring controls to improve oversight of Local Districts’ reimbursement to providers. Of the initial report’s six audit recommendations, two were implemented, one was partially implemented, and three were not implemented.

New York State Health Insurance Program – Anthem Blue Cross – Coordination of Benefits With Medicare (2023-S-3) 

The Empire Plan is the primary health benefits plan for the New York State Health Insurance Program, administered by the Department of Civil Service (Civil Service). Civil Service contracts with Anthem Blue Cross (Anthem) to administer the Hospital Program of the Empire Plan, and many enrollees and their dependents have other insurance coverage in addition to the Empire Plan such as Medicare. Coordination of benefits is a process health insurance companies use for paying health care claims when people are covered by more than one insurance plan. For the audit period, auditors found Anthem improperly paid 241 claims totaling $5,259,416 because proper coordination of benefits did not occur. Anthem’s eligibility system was not always updated promptly with members’ Medicare-related information, and weaknesses in Anthem’s and Civil Service’s reconciliation of member enrollment data prevented opportunities for recovery.