HomeMy WebLinkAboutAudit Reports - Public - Cable Communications - Audit Follow-up - 8/23/2017
_____________________________________________________________________________________
City Auditor’s Office Cable Communications Follow-up
Date: August 23, 2017
To: Kevin R. Phelps, City Manager
From: Candace MacLeod, City Auditor
Subject: Audit Follow-up: Cable Communications
An audit of Cable Communications was conducted by the City Auditor’s Office in 2016.
In July 2017, a follow-up was conducted to ensure actions were taken by management
to reduce internal control risks. Out of the 27 audit recommendations in the 2016 report,
five remain open as follows:
Public Affairs
• Requesting City Council approval of the Glendale Media Center (GMC) rental rates
in accordance with City Code
• Requesting City Council approval of the GMC’s policies for internal and external
usage
• Conducting a Glendale 11 viewership survey
• Developing goals, objectives and performance measures for Cable
Communications based on viewership survey results
• Transferring GMC security responsibilities to Police’s Security Services
An additional follow-up will be performed to ensure action has been taken to address
the outstanding audit recommendations.
We would like to extend our appreciation to the staff that assisted us throughout this
audit.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Attachment
cc: Michael D. Bailey, City Attorney
Lisette Camacho, Assistant Director Budget and Finance
Tom Duensing, Assistant City Manager
Vicki Rios, Director Budget and Finance
Rick St. John, Police Chief
Brent Stoddard, Director Public Affairs
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City Auditor’s Office 1 Cable Communications Follow-up
Recommendation
Management Response
June 2016
Management Response
August 2017 Status
1.1 Public Affairs
explore
opportunities to
maximize utilization
of Cable
Communications
facilities, resources
and equipment in
conjunction with
City management.
Concur. Effective
immediately, staff has
discussed with
Management and has
recently met with
partners from the higher
education community to
explore opportunities to
partner to maximize the
use of the facilities. This
will be an ongoing
organization objective.
Staff has discussed this
with management. In
June 2016, staff began
meeting with partners
from the higher
education community to
explore opportunities to
partner to maximize the
use of the facilities.
Closed
1.2 Public Affairs assess
utilizing existing
equipment prior to
purchasing new
equipment.
Concur. Effective
immediately, staff will
assess utilizing existing
equipment prior to
purchasing new
equipment.
Staff has been assessing
utilizing existing
equipment prior to
purchasing new
equipment.
Closed
1.3 Public Affairs
salvage
underutilized or
outdated
equipment in a
timely manner.
Concur. Effective
immediately, staff will
salvage underutilized or
outdated equipment.
Staff has completed the
salvage process for
underutilized or
outdated equipment,
and will continue to do
so in the future.
Closed
1.4 Public Affairs
develop controls to
ensure technology
requests are
adequately
analyzed and
controlled to ensure
only approved
requests are
purchased.
Concur. Effective
immediately, controls
have been put in place
to ensure only approved
requests are purchased.
This was completed in
July 2016.
Effective July 2016,
controls (approved by
Finance) have been put
in place to ensure only
approved requests are
purchased.
Closed
2.1 Public Affairs work
with Budget and
Finance to ensure
Cable
Communications
capital assets are
tagged and
properly
accounted for in
the capital assets
database.
Concur. Staff is currently
working with Budget and
Finance to complete
asset tagging efforts. The
estimated completion
date is September 16,
2016.
Staff began working with
Finance in May 2016 to
ensure all capital assets
are tagged and
properly accounted for
in the capital assets
database. Finance
completed the
database in January
2017.
Closed
_____________________________________________________________________________________
City Auditor’s Office 2 Cable Communications Follow-up
Recommendation
Management Response
June 2016
Management Response
August 2017 Status
2.2 Public Affairs
dispose of assets no
longer in use by
Cable
Communications in
accordance with
the City Code.
Concur. Disposals will be
completed by October
14, 2016.
Staff began working with
Finance in May 2016 to
begin disposing of
unused equipment. This
process is completed
but will remain ongoing
as needed.
Closed
2.3 Budget and
Finance explore
automated options
to more efficiently
and effectively
track capital assets.
Concur. Budget and
Finance will explore
options to track capital
assets by June 30, 2017
as part of the ERP
replacement project.
The city is in the process
of implementing a new
ERP system, Tyler Munis.
The expected go live
date is July 1, 2018.
Closed
3.1 Public Affairs review
GMC rental rates
and make any
adjustments.
Concur. A review of
market rental rates will
be conducted and
Cable Communications
will work with
management to make
appropriate
adjustments. The
estimated completion
date is October 14, 2016.
Staff completed a
market rental rate
research project in
August 2016. We
compared to GMC rates
and made necessary
revisions. The City
Manager's Office
approved the revised
interim rates.
Closed
3.2 Public Affairs
formalize and
request council
approval of the
GMC rental rates in
accordance with
City Code.
Concur. Staff will work
with the Manager and
Attorney’s office to
determine how to
comply with City Code.
The estimated
completion date is
January 2017.
The item is currently in
the City Attorney's office
for review.
Open
3.3 Public Affairs
develop a policy
for internal and
external usage of
the GMC.
Concur. A team will be
put together to develop
a policy consistent with
the use of other City
facilities and staff will be
trained on the policy.
The estimated
completion date is
January, 2017.
The policies have been
developed and are
awaiting council
approval. The item is
part of the larger
“facilities” policy that will
be coming forward to
council once the
Attorney’s Office has
finished their review.
Open
4.1 Public Affairs
establish controls to
manage and
approve GMC
Concur. Controls were
put in place in July 2016
consistent with City
policies.
The GMC Rental
Contract and Cash
Handling Procedures
were finalized in August
Closed
_____________________________________________________________________________________
City Auditor’s Office 3 Cable Communications Follow-up
Recommendation
Management Response
June 2016
Management Response
August 2017 Status
studio rental
contracts in
accordance with
City policy.
2016, approved by
Finance, and
implemented in
September 2016. Staff
has been trained on the
procedures.
4.2 Public Affairs work
with the City
Attorney’s Office to
make any
modifications to the
standard GMC
rental agreement
template.
Concur. The review was
completed by the City
Attorney’s Office in July
2016 and adjustments
were made to the
template.
The review was
completed by the City
Attorney’s Office in July
2016 and adjustments
were made to the
template.
Closed
4.3 Budget and
Finance assess
whether sales tax
should be imputed
on GMC rental
fees, or adopt
another approach.
Concur. Budget and
Finance will assess
whether or not sales tax
should be imputed by
December 31, 2016.
The taxes are included in
the rental fees. Budget
and Finance has properly
imputed taxes on the
rental fees.
Closed
4.4 Budget and
Finance enhance
controls to ensure
journal entries from
internal GMC
rentals are
recorded in a
timely manner.
Concur. Budget and
Finance will evaluate
the process for posting
journal entries on GMC
rentals by December 31,
2016.
GMC rental revenues are
now billed through
Miscellaneous
Receivable (MR). GMC
staff were trained on MR
invoicing on August 10,
2016.
Closed
5.1 Public Affairs
develop controls to
ensure GMC rental
payments are
managed in
compliance with
City policy and
train staff.
Concur. Will work with
Budget and Finance to
ensure proper processes
and protections are in
place and will train staff
by September 16, 2016.
Final approval of formal
revenue procedures was
received by Finance in
September 2016. At that
time, Staff was trained on
new procedures utilizing
SharePoint. A rental
agreement and
payment spreadsheet
was created that can be
accessed from the group
drive.
Closed
6.1 Public Affairs
develop controls to
ensure the Granicus
service agreement
Concur. Effective
immediately, controls
have been put in place
Worked with IT to finalize
the contract in June
2016. This is contract #
C-10955. This was
Closed
_____________________________________________________________________________________
City Auditor’s Office 4 Cable Communications Follow-up
Recommendation
Management Response
June 2016
Management Response
August 2017 Status
is managed in
accordance with
City policy.
to manage the
contract.
approved by council
and a finalized copy of
the new Granicus
Service Agreement was
provided to the City
Auditor in July 2016.
6.2 Public Affairs
determine whether
monthly managed
fees should be
charged to the
Cable
Communications
budget and make
any budget
modifications.
Concur. Effective
immediately, fees are
now charged to the
Cable Communications
budget.
Effective July 2016, fees
are now charged to the
Cable Communications
budget.
Closed
6.3 Public Affairs review
monthly Granicus
payments since
inception of the
agreement to
ensure accuracy
and compliance.
Concur. A full review of
the payments will be
conducted by
November 2016.
A full review of the
payments was made.
The Department was
compliant.
Closed
7.1 Public Affairs
consider
conducting a
Glendale 11
viewership survey to
assist with future
allocation of
resources and
technology.
Concur. Currently
meeting with
Management to discuss
the need for a survey to
gather accurate data.
This project may be part
of a larger surveying
project in FY17/18.
Staff met with
management to discuss
the need for a survey to
gather accurate data.
Survey questions have
been developed. Staff
submitted potential
questions for the survey in
September 2016. The
survey results should be
completed by end of
FY2018.
Open
7.2 Public Affairs
develop
comprehensive
goals, objectives
and performance
measures for Cable
Communications
based on survey
results and report
Concur. Will be
completed as part of
new balanced
scorecard project for
FY17/18.
This will be completed as
part of a Tier 2 Balanced
Scorecard project.
Open
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City Auditor’s Office 5 Cable Communications Follow-up
Recommendation
Management Response
June 2016
Management Response
August 2017 Status
progress
periodically.
8.1 Public Affairs work
with Materials
Management to
ensure the provision
of closed caption
services complies
with City
procurement
policies.
Concur. Will work with
Materials Management
to ensure services
comply with City
policies. Will be
completed by
November 2017.
A formal procurement
process was completed
in September 2016. The
Linking Agreement was
finalized in March 2016.
The contract was
awarded to the lowest
bidder, resulting in a
reduction in the hourly
rate from $125 per hour
to $93 per hour. This is
contract #C-77-0164-1.
Closed
9.1 Public Affairs review
and further restrict
card access to the
GMC based on job
function.
Concur. This has been
completed.
All GMC card access
requests are approved
by Director of Public
Affairs, beginning July
2016.
Closed
9.2 Public Affairs
eliminate generic
or duplicate GMC
access cards or
cards assigned to
terminated
employees.
Concur. This has been
completed.
Staff receives the
monthly employee
status list from HR and
makes deletions to card
access based on this list.
This process began in
July 2016.
Closed
9.3 Public Affairs
consult with Police
regarding
transferring security
and access
responsibilities for
the GMC.
Concur. Security
Services has agreed to
take responsibility for
security and access
controls of GMC.
PD had the security
system vendor visit the
GMC in August 2016 to
evaluate the cost of this
project, to upgrade our
current system, and to
migrate this service to
their department.
Utilizing department
savings at the end of
FY17, staff was able to
update the computer
system and software
needed to have Security
Services manage the
system. This was
completed at the end of
June, 2017. We will now
be working with IT to
Open
_____________________________________________________________________________________
City Auditor’s Office 6 Cable Communications Follow-up
Recommendation
Management Response
June 2016
Management Response
August 2017 Status
provide remote access
for Security Services, at
which time the system
will be fully managed by
PD. The estimated
completion date is
October 2017.
10.1 Public Affairs
develop controls to
ensure staff
complies with P-
card procedures
and train staff.
Concur. Staff will attend
the next scheduled P-
card training.
All staff members
completed the
procurement card
training in August 2017.
Closed
11.1 Public Affairs
consult with
Equipment
Management
regarding Cable
Communications
vehicle needs and
relinquish any
underutilized
vehicles.
Concur. Will review the
need for assigned fleet
vehicles on a yearly
basis.
Equipment Management
staff reviewed our usage
in August 2016 and they
do not intend to make
changes to our vehicles
unless our situation
changes. Their
department oversees
assigning vehicles based
on needs and believes
the vehicles that have
been assigned were
done so correctly and
they will notify us if any
changes are needed.
Closed
11.2 Public Affairs ensure
Cable
Communications
vehicle logs
indicate the
destination and
business purpose of
each trip.
Concur. Completed in
July 2016.
Effective July 2016, staff
created a vehicle sign
out sheet to indicate the
destination and business
purpose of each trip.
Closed