Audits in Progress

These summaries of the audits currently approved or under way link to the audit "scope statement" approved by the Legislative Post Audit Committee or (for audits conducted by the school audit team) by the 2010 Commission. The scope statement outlines the questions the audit will try to answer and the methods we would use to answer those questions. (Files in PDF format are 15 KB or smaller).

K-12 Education:
Reviewing School Districts's Use of At-Risk and Other Selected State Funding

In 2005 the Legislature added almost $290 million in school funding for the 2005-06 school year. Then, during the 2006 session, it passed a three-year school finance plan to phase in another $466 million by the 2008-09 school year, with much of the new funding directed at providing additional services for "at-risk" students. There are concerns regarding how school districts have used the new funding they have received as a result of the Legislature's changes to the school finance formula. Specifically, legislators would like to know if the districts are using their at-risk and professional development funding on programs that have been shown to be successful through education research. Also whether districts have used their new funding to increase teacher salaries or for other types of instruction expenditures.
Scope statement

State Agency Information Systems:
Reviewing the Kansas Health Policy Authority's Management of Those Systems

The Kansas Health Policy Authority was created in 2005 to develop and maintain a coordinated health policy agenda that combined effective purchasing and administration with health-promotion-oriented public health strategies. During the last few years concerns have been expressed about the lack of monitoring of State computer systems. State agencies are becoming more dependent on their computer systems and on the data those systems contain. Significant risks are associated with these advances in technology. Presently, there is little oversight of agencies' computer operations to monitor whether these risks are being adequately managed. To help address these risks, the Legislative Post Audit Committee approved information systems audits to be done as an adjunct to the Division's compliance and control audits.
Scope statement

K-12 Education:
School District Efficiency Audits

The 2005 Legislature passed House Bill 2247 which increased State funding for school districts by more than $145 million for the 2005-06 school year. To ensure greater accountability, the legislature established a school district team within the Legislative Division of Post Audit to conduct audits and monitor school district funding and other oversight issues. Potential topics relate to how efficiently and effectively school districts use their State funding. This audit would look at the efficiency and effectiveness of many aspects of school districts' operations such as management of its personnel and facilities. Also whether districts follow best practices for financial management; and does the district spend its State at-risk and bilingual funding on effective programs.
Scope statement

Department of Commerce:
Determining Whether the Department Has More Management Staff Than Similar-Sized Agencies in Kansas or Similar Agencies in Other States

The Department of Commerce is a cabinet-level agency with a Secretary appointed by the Governor. The agency has nine divisions. During fiscal year 2007, the Department had approximately 468 full-time-equivalent staff and it spent just over $112 million. The operations and legal services divisions employed just over 72 full-time-equivalent staff, or about 15% of the Department's total positions. Legislators have raised questions about whether the Department is top heavy with management compared to similar-sized agencies in Kansas or similar types of agencies in other states, and whether reducing the management staff could result in significant salary savings.
Scope statement

Financial Regulatory Agencies:
Determining Whether Functions Could Be Combined To Gain Cost Efficiencies

Kansas is one of a few states that has separate agencies regulating financial institutions. The majority of states have an agency that has responsibilities for regulating banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, securities dealers, mortgage brokers, pawn shops, and the like. For fiscal year 2008, the Kansas Banking Department is estimated to spend about $8.5 million and employs 98 full-time-equivalent staff. The Department of Credit Unions will spend just over $1 million and employs 12 staff. The Office of the Securities Commissioner will spend just over $3 million and employs approximately 32 full-time-equivalent staff. Legislators would like to know whether there are ways to combine financial regulatory agencies in Kansas to achieve greater operational efficiencies and cost savings.
Scope statement

Agricultural-Related Agencies:
Determining Whether Cost Savings Could Be Achieved By Making the Animal Health Department and the Conservation Commission Divisions of the Department of Agriculture

Currently, the Kansas Animal Health Department and the Kansas Conservation Commission are separate from the Kansas Department of Agriculture. A review of other states in the region (Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma) shows that those states have placed their animal health function within their departments of agriculture. Several of those states also have placed soil and water conservation functions under their departments of agriculture. Legislators would like to know if Kansas could achieve great operating efficiencies and reduce costs by merging its Animal Health Department and Conservation Commission into the Department of Agriculture.
Scope statement

Economic Development:
Determining the Amounts the State Has Spent on Economic Development Programs and the Economic Impacts on Kansas Counties

Recently, legislators have expressed an interest in knowing what programs fund economic development activities in Kansas, and how much State, federal, and local money is spent for economic developmment purposes. They want to know what past audits and current literature show about the effectiveness of spending for economic development activities, and what types of results can be shown in Kansas for the money that has been spent to date.
Scope statement

State Universities:
Can State Universities Provide Post-Secondary Education More Efficiently to Reduce Costs

The Board of Regents oversees the State higher education system, which includes six State universities serving about 90,000 students. In the past ten years, spending at the six universities (excluding the University of Kansas Medical Center) has grown from about $910 million to nearly $1.7 billion. That increase in spending is about 26% higher than the inflation rate for higher education. During that same time the number of staff at the institutions has grown by 16% from 11,383 to 13,245. Legislators want to know if there are opportunities for State universities in Kansas to reduce the cost of providing post-secondary education.
Scope statement

Wireless Enhanced 911:
Reviewing Implementation of the 2004 Act

The 2004 Legislature passed the Wireless Enhanced 911 Act to provide funding for Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPS) to establish wireless E-911 telephone service. The Act required Legislative Post Audit to conduct an audit of the wireless enhanced 911 service system during calendar year 2006 to determine whether local units of government are using moneys received under this Act appropriately, whether the amount of money being collected is adequate, the status of implementation, and the need and level of continued funding of the system. Among the findings of the audit were that moneys were generally being used appropriately and that on a Statewide basis, revenues would far exceed costs. However, the audit showed that some answering points wouldn't have enough money to cover costs through 2010 or to cover their ongoing operating expenses after 2010. The Act calls for another similar audit to be completed prior to the 2009 legislative session that includes not only the enhanced 911 service system but the Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and the land line emergency telephone service systems as well.
Scope statement

Commission on Veterans Affairs:
Reviewing How Well It is Spending Its Money and Serving Veterans

The Kansas Commission on Veterans Affairs is composed of five members who have served in the armed forces. The Commission provides Kansas veterans and eligible dependents with information, advice, direction, and assistance with various educational, health, vocational, and economic programs. Legislators want to know how the Commission is spending its money. Specifically, they are concerned that the Commission is holding veterans representative positions open and not spending money it has available. Also there are concerns about reports from the Department on Aging that showed a number of deficiencies at the Kansas Soldiers Home and the Kansas Veterans Home. It was noted by the House Appropriations Budget Subcommittee that the Soldiers Home had about $1 million in funds carried over from the previous year's budget, and they want to know why that money wasn't used to addrerss the conditions that led to the deficiencies cited by the Department on Aging.
Scope statement

K-12 Education:
Reviewing Issues at the Kansas State High School Activities Association

Recently, legislators have expressed concerns that the Kansas State High School Association's governance structure, with both a Board of Directors and an Executive Board, is cumbersome and makes the Association less responsive to the needs of its member schools. Also, there are concerns that the Association's policies for sharing the revenue generated by its sanctioned events cause schools to lose money when they host such events. Last of all, there are concerns that the Association's limits on the lengths of seasons and its restrictions on student-athletes' contact with their coaches hinder the athletic development of Kansas student-athletes.
Scope statement

Estimating the Economic Impact of Illegal Immigration on the State of Kansas

In recent years, officials in many states have expressed concern about the federal government's failure to adequately enforce the country's immigration policies. Research groups estimate that currently there are between eight million and 20 million illegal immigrants in the United States. Studies have shown that illegal immigrants can be costly to the taxpayers in three main areas: education, health care, and law enforcement. Legislators are interested in knowing the costs of services Kansas provides to the illegal immigrant population as well as the amount of tax revenue they likely generate.
Scope statement

Department of Health and Environment:
Reviewing Issues Related to the Permitting Process in the Bureau of Air and Radiation

In 2007, the Department of Health and Environment took action on a permit requested by Sunflower Electric Power Corporation to expand an existing coal-fired energy plant in Holcomb, Kansas. The expansion would have added two new units to the Holcomb generating facility at a cost of about $3.5 billion. The Department denied the air-quality permit, citing evidence of the environmental dangers posed by carbon dioxide emissions from the plant. Legislators have heard concerns that the permitting process in the Bureau of Air and Radiation has changed since the Sunflower decision, and that those changes may be creating backlogs of permits that need to be acted on. They would like to know what changes may have been made to the approval process, and how Kansas' process for approving air-quality permits compares to the process conducted in other states. Also, legislators have expressed concerns about the loss of knowledge and experience that may be occurring because of the number of upper-management positions that have been vacated at the Department in recent times.
Scope statement