Report 23-10 | July 2023
As required by s. 13.94 (1) (br), Wis. Stats., the Legislative Audit Bureau operates a toll-free hotline (1-877-FRAUD-17) that allows the public and individuals within state government to confidentially report alleged fraud, waste, and mismanagement. Callers may remain anonymous, and the Bureau is statutorily required to protect their identities even when other information is made public.
We highlight the activity of the Bureau’s Fraud, Waste, and Mismanagement Hotline for the period from January 1, 2023, through June 30, 2023, including the 25 state-related reports we received.
We note that 25 of the 37 hotline reports (67.6 percent) were state-related. The majority of such reports pertained to alleged agency mismanagement. As of June 30, 2023, we had resolved 8 of the 25 state-related reports to the hotline, and we determined that 4 reports were unfounded, unsubstantiated, or no action was required. As of July 1, 2023, 13 of the 25 state-related hotline reports remained under review.
Specifically, we highlight findings related to selected hotline reports we resolved since the publication of our last semiannual report (report 23-2), including:
- compliance with a personnel policy by a Department of Transportation employee;
- compliance with vehicle fleet policies among certain University of Wisconsin‑Madison employees; and
- management decisions and board activities of the Fox River Navigational System Authority (Authority). We conducted a limited-scope review of the Authority and identified concerns with maintaining the lock system, Authority personnel management, open records law compliance, and open meetings law compliance. We also reviewed the Department of Administration’s responsibilities related to the Authority.
