July 21, 2016

AUDITOR’S REPORT

We have completed an audit of the Department of Parks and Recreation’s (DPR) contract
administration practices. The purpose of the audit was to determine the effectiveness of DPR’s contract administration practices, including assessing how DPR ensures that contractors are in compliance with contract terms and whether contract administration practices align with best practices and are in the best interest of the City.

As described in the attached report, our audit revealed that DPR needs to improve contract
administration practices. Specifically, DPR does not have formalized and up-to-date policies and procedures and roles and responsibilities are unclear. DPR also lacks controls to ensure reliability and accuracy of information entered into the contract administration system. In addition, controls related to on-call contracts need to be enhanced and DPR is also at risk of losing institutional knowledge at the management level owing to a lack of segregation of duties and documentation surrounding contract decision making. Contract administration weaknesses identified negatively impact DPR’s ability to properly manage contracts.

Through stronger controls for contract administration and addressing concerns regarding DPR’s current management structure, DPR can ensure that contracts are effectively managed and continuity of operations is not affected as a result of executive management turnover. Our report lists several related recommendations.

This performance audit is authorized pursuant to the City and County of Denver Charter, Article V, Part 2, Section 1, General Powers and Duties of Auditor, and was conducted in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

We extend appreciation to DPR personnel who assisted and cooperated with us during the audit.

Denver Auditor’s Office
Timothy M. O’Brien, CPA
Auditor

City and County Video of Audit with Fred Weiss

https://www.denvergov.org/content/dam/denvergov/Portals/741/documents/Audits_2016/DPR_ContractAdminPractices_July2016.pdf

http://www.denverinc.org/citywidelandandinfrastructurecapitalassets_march2016-appendix/
Contains appendixes of Park Designations

http://www.denverinc.org/citywidelandandinfrastructurecapitalassets_march2016-appendix/

http://www.denverinc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/DPR_ContractAdminPractices_July2016.pdf