Audits issued by the State Comptroller issued during the week ending September 12, 2015

Audits issued by the State Comptroller issued during the week ending September 12, 2015

Source: Office of the State Comptroller

Click on the text in color to access the Comptroller’s report.

On September 25, 2016, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced the following audits have been issued. Click on the text in color to access the Comptroller’s report.

State Department of Education: Compliance with the Reimbursable Cost Manual

The Sunshine Developmental School provides special education programs for about 600 children between the ages of three and five years in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Sunshine’s special education programs are funded by the New York City Department of Education (DoE), as well as other school districts and counties whose children are served by its special education programs. The DoE and other localities reimburse via tuition payments based on reimbursement rates set by SED. Auditors found $1,776,434 in unsupported or inappropriate costs charged to the programs audited. The ineligible charges by Sunshine include personal service costs of $1,392,542 and non-personal service costs of $383,892.

http://osc.state.ny.us/audits/allaudits/093015/12s64.pdf

Department of Health: Questionable payments for practitioner services and pharmacy claims

Auditors found the doctor’s medical records did not meet the minimum standards to support his Medicaid claims. A review of a sample of the records found that they contained inadequate and sparse detail. Further, DOH’s review of the records found that they lacked sufficient details to ensure adequate treatment of complex diseases, contained no treatment plans and were illegible. There was insufficient assurance that the doctor provided appropriate medical care and that services totaling $1,039,404 warranted Medicaid payment. Auditors also questioned whether pharmacy claims totaling approximately $15 million for prescription drugs ordered by the doctor were all necessary.

http://osc.state.ny.us/audits/allaudits/093015/12s35.pdf

Department of Health: Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement [Follow-up]

An initial audit report issued in November 2012 examined whether the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement was effectively and efficiently combating prescription drug diversion and abuse in New York state, in large part through its analysis and use of prescription data that it maintains electronically. Auditors found several areas where the bureau could improve its ability to ensure its resources are used effectively to stem drug diversion and abuse through a range of efforts, from prevention and deterrence to detection and prosecution. In a follow-up report, auditors found DOH has made progress in enhancing its electronic prescription data and in some of the routine analyses that it performs using this data. It has also improved security and accountability over blank prescription forms returned to its office and to its suppliers.

http://osc.state.ny.us/audits/allaudits/093015/15f6.pdf

Metropolitan Transportation Authority: Diversions of service for maintenance and capital projects

An initial report issued in July 2011 determined that while the MTA has a number of policies and procedures for managing and controlling subway diversions, more needed to be done. The audit found that diversion costs were not adequately monitored, and daily work on diversions often started late and ended early. The public was not adequately informed about diversions, shuttle bus service was not planned using current ridership data and the budget for advertisements to communicate information about diversions appeared to be too low. In a follow-up, auditors found MTA officials have made some progress in correcting the problems identified. However, additional improvements are needed.

http://osc.state.ny.us/audits/allaudits/093015/14f10.pdf

Metropolitan Transportation Authority: Staten Island Railway on-time performance

The Staten Island Railway’s (SIR) on-time performance percentage generally approached or exceeded its standard of 95 percent. However, auditors also noted that SIR does not completely report the timeliness of trains to the public. Sometimes trains were intentionally held beyond scheduled departure times to accommodate passengers disembarking from the Staten Island Ferry. Also, trains headed to the ferry were sometimes given priority over scheduled outbound departures, causing the outbound trains to be delayed.

http://osc.state.ny.us/audits/allaudits/093015/15s56.pdf

Certain political subdivisions of the State continue of experience fiscal stress

Certain political subdivisions of the State continue of experience fiscal stress

Source: Office of the State Comptroller

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s Fiscal Stress Monitoring System has designated 44 municipalities across the state as fiscally stressed -- 12 counties, 11 cities and 21 towns. For the third consecutive year DiNapoli’s office has evaluated the financial stability of local governments and has identified 70 municipalities in fiscal stress at least once during this period. The report is posted on the Internet at: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/fiscalmonitoring/pdf/munis_stressed2014.pdf

“The financial trends in some local governments have not improved over the past three years, and it is looking tougher for New York’s cities,” said DiNapoli. “While it is clear that our municipalities continue to struggle with balancing revenues against increasing costs, we also know that sensible budgeting and developing comprehensive multiyear financial plans are crucial to overcoming both current and future fiscal challenges.”

The latest round of scores is based on 2014 financial information provided to DiNapoli’s office by local governments as of Aug. 31, 2015 and includes only municipalities with fiscal years ending on Dec. 31, 2014. In New York, all counties and towns, 44 cities and 10 villages have a calendar-based fiscal year – a total of 1,043 communities.

Based on their 2014 financial statements, 15 entities have received the highest designation of “significant fiscal stress.” This includes the counties of Monroe, Broome, Nassau, St. Lawrence, Franklin and Rockland; the cities of Glen Cove and Albany; and the towns of East Fishkill, Jasper, Ramapo, Pierrepont, Coeymans, Cherry Valley and Parish.

Eleven communities have been listed in the second highest category of “moderate fiscal stress.” This includes Suffolk County, the cities of Poughkeepsie, Little Falls, Fulton and Glens Falls; and the towns of Hempstead, Colonie, Napoli, Saugerties, Rochester and German Flatts.

Another 18 municipalities have been listed in the third category as “susceptible to fiscal stress.”

DiNapoli’s monitoring system evaluates local governments on nine financial indicators and creates a fiscal condition score. Indicators include fund balance, cash-on-hand and patterns of operating deficits. The system also evaluates environmental information such as population trends, poverty and unemployment. Each municipality receives a separate environmental score.

When examining the scoring results, DiNapoli noted 14 municipalities were designated in stress for each of the three years since he implemented the system, 21 were in stress in two out of three years and 35 for only one of three years. Most notably, four counties have been in significant stress for all three years (Franklin, Monroe, Rockland and St. Lawrence).

Other findings include:

* Last year 35 calendar year entities were designated as fiscally stressed;

* Twenty calendar year entities moved into a fiscal stress category in 2014;

* Eleven calendar year entities moved out of fiscal stress category in 2014;

* In 2014, more than 21 percent of counties and 25 percent of calendar year cities were in a fiscal stress category, while just over 2 percent of towns were stressed;

* Downstate had a larger percentage of calendar year entities in stress, with 25 percent of those on Long Island (4 of 16) and 8 percent of those in the Mid-Hudson region (10 of 123) listed; and

* More than two dozen municipalities failed to file their financial data in time to receive a fiscal stress score in all three reporting years. This includes the city of Ithaca and 25 towns.

The fiscally stressed governments identified today join the previously announced 115 municipalities and school districts that have been classified in some level of fiscal stress as of their 2014 fiscal year end date.

Last year, DiNapoli’s legislative proposal to help local governments across New York improve their long-term budget planning was signed into law. The law allows counties, cities, towns and villages identified as fiscally stressed to be reimbursed by the state’s Financial Restructuring Board for Local Governments for all or part of the costs associated with long-term budget planning, including hiring financial advisors to assist in the development of multi-year budget plans.

Multiyear financial planning is a tool that will enable these entities to develop revenue and expenditure trends, establish long-term priorities and goals, and take into consideration the impact of near-term budgeting decisions on future fiscal years. It also allows officials to assess alternative approaches to financing operations.

In addition, DiNapoli's Division of Local Government and School Accountability conducts ongoing outreach with local government officials throughout the fiscal monitoring process and has created a number of tools to help municipal officials better understand their financial data, the impact it has on their score and their financial condition. The Comptroller’s office has also launched a new training academy for local government officials that will increase training efforts related to financial oversight and budgeting activities.

For a copy of DiNapoli’s report Three Years of the Fiscal Stress Monitoring System, visit:
http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/fiscalmonitoring/pdf/threeyearsfsms_0915.pdf

To view the complete, sortable list of fiscal scores for municipalities, visit:
http://wwe1.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/fiscalmonitoring/fsms.cfm

For more detailed information about the Comptroller’s fiscal stress monitoring system and to view reports related to local government fiscal stress visit:
www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/fiscalmonitoring/index.htm

For access to state and local government spending, public authority financial data and information on 50,000 state contracts, visit Open Book New York. The easy-to-use website was created by DiNapoli to promote openness in government and provide taxpayers with better access to the financial workings of government.

The Jurisprudence of Yogi Berra

The Jurisprudence of Yogi Berra

Source: Brian Costello, Esq., Loyola Law School, Los Angeles 

The late Yankee baseball player Yogi Berra’s way with words reached all the way to legal academia.

In 1997, a group of Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, professors contributed to a law review article The Jurisprudence of Yogi Berra which promised to "examine Yogi's wisdom and demonstrate the parallels between judges' and legislators' comments and what Yogi said - only Yogi said it better." 

The authors included Professors Jan Costello, Bryan Hull, Laurie Levenson, Samuel Pillsbury, Katie Pratt, Ted Seto, Georgene Vairo and Gary Williams.

The law review article is available on the Internet at:

http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1707&context=facpubs