We note that 27 of the 45 hotline reports (60.0 percent) were state-related. The majority of these reports pertained to alleged agency mismanagement. As of December 31, 2023, we had resolved 4 of the 27 state-related reports to the hotline, and we determined that 12 reports were unfounded, unsubstantiated, or no action was required. As of January 1, 2024, 11 of the 27 state-related hotline reports remained under review.
Fraud, Waste, and Mismanagement Hotline
Semiannual Report: July 2023 – December 2023Report 24-2 | January 2024
SUMMARY
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 July 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023, including the 27 state-related reports we received.
We received a total of 45 reports from July 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023
We highlight findings related to selected hotline reports
Specifically, we highlight findings related to selected hotline reports we resolved since the publication of our last semiannual report (report 23-10), including:
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- concerns about travel payments made to two employees who principally resided in a state outside of Wisconsin; and
- concerns about delays in license application processing by the Department of Safety and Professional Services.
We followed up on the administration of state-owned residential properties
We conducted follow-up on the Department of Administration’s (DOA’s) administration of state-owned residential properties. We originally reported on this issue in December 2019 (report 19-26). We reviewed the status of recommendations we made in report 19-26 to DOA, the Department of Natural Resources, and the University of Wisconsin System. We also addressed a report made to the hotline in 2023 in the scope of our audit follow-up work. We recommend DOA improve its oversight of state agency rental rate reductions requested by state agencies for certain state-owned residential properties.
Please see our five recommendations to DOA on our website.