2006 - The Office of Public Accountability

Government of Guam - Emergency
Executive Orders and Certificates of
Emergency
From April 2003 to December 2005, 18
Executive Orders authorized the transfer of
up to $4.5M for local emergencies related to
civil defense, public safety, and healthcare.
These emergency funds increased the
General Fund deficit, as emergency funds
are not budgeted.
Chart 1: Emergency Spending 2003-2005
Non-
Disaster
Spending
$2,104,152
67%
Disaster
Spending
$1,026,241
33%
building type, (4) outside presentation area,
and (5) vehicle service bay requirements.
These restrictions resulted in the lack of
competition, and only one vendor submitted
a bid and thus allowed the OAG to remain in
its present location, which was secured
during the emergency period.
Department of Administration (DOA)
Stale-Dated Checks
The audit found that the management and
control of stale-dated checks issued by DOA
were generally adequate. However, we
found some systemic problems in the
accounting system that inhibited the
efficiency of DOA accounting to complete
required tasks timely.
Of the $4.5M authorized, $3.1M was
encumbered and expended. Of these
emergencies, only $1M or 33% was spent on
natural disasters and catastrophic events
(i.e., typhoons) while $2.1M or 67% was
spent on non-disaster related emergencies
(i.e., school gym repair and overtime
litigation). Local laws, which allow for the
emergency use of funds, are broad and allow
for much latitude and discretion.
As part of the audit, we also reviewed the
OAG’s emergency procurement for lease
space and the bid invitation for permanent
lease space. Unlike the emergency bid
specifications, which were general in nature,
we found that the long-term bid
specifications were tailored to the same
building the OAG had temporarily leased
during the emergency, following an eviction
from the Superior Court building. The five
restrictive specifications identified were (1)
location, (2) exclusive occupancy, (3)
Department of Administration, Hagatna
Nine recommendations were made which
included recommendations to greater utilize
the capabilities of DOA’s accounting
system, to strengthen internal controls of
issued checks, and to reconcile Child
Support’s records with DOA’s accounting
system.
Department of Parks and Recreation
(DPR) Paseo Stadium Lease Agreement
This audit was initiated as a result of the
follow-up Review of DPR’s Unresolved
Audit Recommendations.
We found that the Paseo Stadium tax credit
program was poorly managed by DPR and
OPA 2006 Annual Report p.8