Audit Schedule for Fiscal Year 2024-25 (2024)

Read the memo from City Auditor Simone Rede to Portland City Council as a PDF:

Download PDF fileAudit Schedule 2024-25 - Auditor Rede - Memo to City Council 6.26.24 248.72 KB

The Audit Services Division conducts performance audits to provide objective information to the public. We report audit findings and recommendations publicly to hold City government accountable and ensure its actions are transparent. We also manage the contract with an outside accounting firm to audit Portland’s financial statements. Results for the year ending June 30, 2024, will be available in November 2024.

In developing this audit schedule, we looked for ways our work could make programs that Portlanders care about more efficient, effective, and equitable. To select these topics, the City Auditor sought input from City officials and analysis from audit staff. We also sought input from community members through an online survey and invited community organizations to participate in focus groups. We're grateful for the perspectives they shared, and eager for them to inform our audit conclusions.

We received more audit topic suggestions from community members this year, thanks to increased promotion of last year’s audit schedule and more outreach to community. We strive to involve community members throughout the audit process to learn more about City programs from people who use them or are otherwise impacted by them. Community members can learn more about our projects and connect with project leads atportland.gov/audit-services/current-projects.

We will resume our presentations to City Council this July so that the legislative body and the public can engage more with our audit work and receive other updates from our Office.

Performance audits will review topics that matter to Portlanders in a time of transition

The Auditor's final selection was based on opportunities she saw to provide adequate and timely coverage to inform the City’s transition to a new form of government. This list reflects the greatest areas of concern for Portlanders and potential to build trust. A number of these audits were announced previously and are currently underway. The topics are grouped by service area. These service areas are how the City has organized its existing Bureaus and services in the new form of government. Each service area will be led by a Deputy City Administrator.

City Operations (formerly Administration)

Bureau of Technology Services’ Management of Technology Purchasing, formerly announced as Information Technology Procurement (underway)
The City's Approach to Managing its Assets (underway)
Bureau of Technology Services' Cybersecurity Procedures

Community & Economic Development

City’s Plans for Climate Justice (underway)
Joint Office of Homeless Services' Rapid Rehousing Program - should the Intergovernmental Agreement to coordinate development and delivery of homeless services between the City and County not be renewed, we will audit the City’s Portland Solutions function instead

Public Works

Management of Vision Zero by the Bureau of Transportation (underway)
Bureau of Transportation's Street Improvements

Public Safety

City Efforts to Reduce and Prevent Gun Violence
911 & the Bureau of Emergency Communications

Vibrant Communities (formerly Culture and Livability)

Parks and Recreation – Fiscal Management (underway)
City Arts Program’s Management of Arts Education and Access Fund, also known as the Arts Tax, and Relationship with the Regional Arts and Culture Council

The topics we plan to begin are subject to scoping, the process we use to research topics, identify areas that can benefit from our review, and plan our work. New topics may be substituted or added if higher priority issues emerge during the year. We will update elected officials and any relevant City administrators and Bureau directors should that occur.

In the new form of government, the City Administrator will receive our audit reports before they are released. We are drafting code changes to conform requirements for audit response to the City’s new organizational structure. These include specifying who will respond in writing to our audit findings and recommendations when we issue reports. We’re creating a tool to help facilitate audit response, so that the public knows how and when the City will address issues we identify in our audits.

Last year, we noted concerns about the City’s use and support of advisory and oversight bodies. The Auditor's Office is exploring options for a City Transparency Advocate, which could, in part, evaluate how transparently these bodies conduct their business and influence City decision-making. The need for such a function, as well as the potential scope, duties, and required staffing, is being considered through a review conducted by the Ombudsman.

Auditors will continue to follow up on past recommendations

We have revised our approach to following up on audits. At the beginning of 2024, we stopped our practice of publishing standalone follow-up reports one and two years after audits are released. Instead, auditors will continue to follow up with Bureaus each year on outstanding recommendations from the past five years and we will publish those results collectively in an annual Audit Impact report. We will also continue to update our Recommendation Status Dashboard.

Hotline staff will investigate tips of fraud, waste, and abuse

Audit Services also administers the fraud hotline, which provides City employees and members of the public a way to confidentially report suspected fraud, waste, and abuse of position by or against the City. Information about the fraud hotline is available at portland.gov/audit-services/fraud-hotline. We will continue to publish an annual report and publicly report on any substantiated tips we investigate.Click here to submit a tip.