Audit Report on the Payroll, Timekeeping, and Other Than Personal Services Expenditures of the Business Integrity Commission

AUDIT REPORT IN BRIEF

In November 2001, a City Charter revision was adopted that created a new agency, the Organized Crime Control Commission. The Commission assumed the licensing, regulatory, and enforcement functions over the trade waste industry (previously under the jurisdiction of the Trade Waste Commission), the public wholesale market (previously under the Department of Small Business Services and the Department of Investigation), and shipboard gambling (previously under the Gambling Control Commission). In July 2002, pursuant to Local Law 21, the Organized Crime Control Commission was renamed the Business Integrity Commission.

The Business Integrity Commission generally adhered to applicable City policies and guidelines for payroll, timekeeping, and purchasing.

However, with regard to timekeeping, we noted that the Business Integrity Commission did not retain its sign-in/sign-out log for its non-managerial employees. In addition, there were 17 instances in which five Security and Enforcement Section employees either did not sign in or did not sign out on the Daily Roll Call Logs, and four instances in which the daily times recorded by Security and Enforcement Section employees on the Daily Roll Call Logs did not match the times recorded on their corresponding Employee Time Reports (ETRs).

We also noted the following purchasing exceptions: there were four instances, totaling $54,818, which lacked the documentation that vendors were contacted and bids obtained before awarding these purchases. There was also one purchase of office furniture, totaling $7,099, for which there was no documentation to evidence that the purchase was awarded to the lowest bidder.

We recommend that the Business Integrity Commission retain its sign-in/sign-out log for non-managerial employees, and that Security and Enforcement Section employees sign in and sign out on the Daily Roll Call Log and that their hours worked are accurately recorded on the ETRs. In addition, we recommend that the Business Integrity Commission comply with the appropriate competitive bidding procedures and documentation requirements specified in the PPB rules and maintain complete procurement files that includes copies of vendor names, contact persons, bids, and telephone numbers.