Legislative Auditor’s Annual Report

Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera today released his annual report to the Legislature and public on his office’s work in calendar year 2014, including the highlights of dozens of the 162 audits performed by his staff.

The report also includes a listing of reports which cite the cost of inefficiencies, missed revenue collections, theft of money, and failure to comply with state laws starting July 1, 2014 and ending December 31, 2014. State law requires that the auditor’s office report quarterly to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget all audit findings that exceed $150,000.

The annual report said in the first half of the 2014-15 fiscal year, Purpera’s office identified agencies in state and local governments that had waste, fraud, theft, inefficiencies in operations, or noncompliance with federal regulations totaling approximately $1.2 billion.

The annual report was prepared to comply with state law and to “highlight significant issues facing state and local governments in 2014,” Purpera said. By pointing out the most significant issues, he said, it can result in “policy changes, improved procedures, or legislative action that will resolve or reduce the impact of these concerns and increase both accountability and transparency in Louisiana government.”

He said that the annual report brings out two major themes: “the need for strong internal fiscal controls at the state and local government levels and the increasing importance of data collection, tracking, and analysis in agency operations.”

The state auditor said that both the fiscal controls and better data collection “are critical to ensuring that the state’s resources are used in the most effective, efficient manner possible and that Louisiana residents receive the services they pay for and expect.”

This report can be found with previous LLA reports at http://www.lla.la.gov/about/annualreport/.