City audit finds three key recommendations on fraud and tax still overdue
Fraud awareness training for employees is eight months late; tax risk management system is five months behind. City has completed 78 per cent of auditor recommendations overall.
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Edmonton's audit committee met Monday to report on implementation of auditor recommendations. Three key recommendations remain overdue, with the city administration having "moved the goal posts to provide enough time to complete them," according to the source.
Fraud awareness training among city employees is eight months overdue. A risk management system for tax collection and assessments is five months overdue. Plans to identify and track minimum requirements for equitable recreation programming are two months behind.
The city has completed 78 per cent of all recommended changes to date. Since August 27, 11 outstanding recommendations have been completed. These include: a formal access plan for issuing gift cards; improvements to the city's cybersecurity program; formal procedures for environmental monitoring; climate impacts factored into council decisions; greater consistency in facilities and fleet management; a guide for communicating future neighbourhood renewal projects to residents; a governing body overseeing the city's taxation and assessment framework; a system to monitor trouble tickets in the city's internal procurement system; and improvements to the city's human resources framework for more accessibility and faster processing of claims.
Of 23 total outstanding recommendations, 17 are due within the next six months. Sixteen are currently on track to be completed on time, including guidance documents for equitable recreation, better documentation of key performance indicators in the accounts receivable department, improved clarity on supports needed for Building Great Neighbourhoods branch projects, a formal data governance standard for building assets, more consistent reviews of capital projects and lessons-learned sharing, a review of how the city assesses internal versus external contractors for waste management, expanded IT training for city employees, consistent reporting and review of the city's IT framework, two recommendations for clearer roles and responsibilities in the IT department, and further improvements to cybersecurity.
Three recommendations are scheduled for completion by year-end: defining risk appetite and tolerance for individual investments and developing a formal process for assessing individual investments.
A formal building management access plan will be delayed until September 30. An update on guiding documents for the city's historic resource management system, which was 20 months behind schedule, was completed on September 8.
Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi Coun. Jon Morgan said of the delays, "I think it's within the margin of error. There's a little bit of making sure the timing is right with other programs as well. We can always be more pro-active."
The facts
How many auditor recommendations has Edmonton completed?
Edmonton has completed 78 per cent of all recommended changes to date.
Which fraud prevention measure is overdue in Edmonton?
Fraud awareness training among city employees is eight months overdue.
When will Edmonton's formal building management access plan be completed?
Edmonton's formal building management access plan will be delayed until September 30, 2026.
How many outstanding recommendations does Edmonton have?
Edmonton has 23 total outstanding recommendations, of which 17 are due within the next six months.
