Purpose

To determine whether the use of travel monies by selected government employees complied with rules and regulations and is free from fraud, waste, and abuse.  The audit covers the period April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2011.

Background

New York State’s executive agencies spend between $100 million and $150 million each year on travel expenses.  These expenses, which are discretionary and under the control of agency management, include car rentals, meals, lodging, transportation, fuel, and incidental costs such as airline baggage and travel agency fees. As part of a statewide initiative to determine whether the use of travel money by selected government employees was appropriate, we audited travel expenses for the highest-cost travelers in the State.  These employees each incurred over $100,000 in travel expenses during the three year period ending March 31, 2011. Two of these employees worked at the Alfred State College of Technology (College) and had travel costs totaling $224,683. We also audited other travel expenses that we identified as outliers in our planning analysis.  These included over $1,037,509 paid to a provider of campus services such as transportation, vending, and concessions, and airfare expenses incurred by one employee that totaled $31,269. In total, we examined $1,293,461 of the College’s travel payments.

Key Findings

We found that the travel expenses for the three College employees and the service provider selected for audit were documented and adhered to State travel rules and regulations.

Key Recommendations

None

Other Related Audits/Reports of Interest

State University of New York College at Cobleskill – Selected Employee Travel Expenses (2012-S-143)
State University of New York College at Oneonta – Selected Employee Travel Expenses (2012-S-145)