Audit - City and County of Denver

• When street address and business type both match, the Department should nextdetermine whether the status of applications with both jurisdictions is consistent.For example, the Department could seek out cases in the datasets where abusiness is denied by one jurisdiction but not by the other. The Department couldalso look for cases where the City license has expired but the state license is stillvalid.• Another valuable exercise would be determining whether the business namematches or is reasonably close between the two datasets.In addition to making reconciliations between the two datasets, the Department shouldtry to ascertain the reasons for the differences between the City’s and the state’sdataset, especially regarding addresses that exist in one dataset but not the other.Specifically, the Department should analyze and research the sixty-five businessaddresses in the state’s dataset that did not have a match in the City’s dataset todetermine the reasons. In this research the Department should take at least three steps.• Checking for consistency in street-name spelling in both datasets . We observedone of the state records not found in the City data was because the street namehad been misspelled in the state data.• Checking to ensure that the street addresses not included in the City’s datasetare actually City and County of Denver addresses, rather than belonging toanother jurisdiction• Assigning Department inspectors to perform street checks to determine if thebusinesses not found in the City’s dataset are operating without a City license orapplicationCity and State Licensing Periods Are Inconsistent and City Allows Businesses to RenewMM Licenses for Two Years While Paying in One-Year Increments – The City has adopteda rule that can result in an MM business operating with a valid two-year City licenseregardless of whether or not the full license fee is paid in a timely manner. This ruleappears related to a discrepancy between the City’s and the state’s license periods.Specifically, the state issues a one-year license for MM businesses whereas the City grantsa two-year license. According to audit inquiries of Department management and theAssistant City Attorney assigned to the Department, when the City developed the first setof MM business licensing rules, it adopted a one-year licensing term. Subsequent stateregulations did not specify a state licenseThe City allows for two year MMbusiness licenses, but can chooseto pay on yearly basis causingconfusion to businesses and forCity record-keepingterm. In the absence of direction from staterules, MMED adopted a two-year licensingterm as a policy. The City followed thestate’s decision by amending the licensureperiod from one to two years. Subsequently,the state MMED changed the statelicensing term to one year but the Citychose to retain a two-year licensure period.City and County of DenverP a g e 28