Fraud hotline set to start taking calls next month

Carson City’s Audit Committee learned Tuesday the city government fraud, waste and abuse hotline should be up and running by the first of November.

Finance Director Nick Providenti passed that along during a report from Moss Adams, internal auditing firm, on a trio of programs the city recommended to the Board of Supervisors that are under way and in various stages. Those programs are the waste, fraud and abuse hotline and followup plan, city fleet management and auditing performance metrics.

“I’m happy to report that they’re all moving along well,” said Mark Steranka of Moss Adams. On fraud, waste and abuse, he asked Bill Palmer of the audit panel to give his impressions of training city staff has undergone as part of that program.

“It was a spirited session,” said Palmer, a vocal advocate of the program. He said senior city staff was there and some concerns, examples and other matters regarding how the program would work were discussed. “I’m looking forward to having the program continue.” He also reminded everyone the hotline part of the plan was to get tips but cloak the tipsters’ anonymity.

On fleet management, Steranka told panel members research on city vehicle inventory and other matters, such as usage, is aimed at “determining where there are surplus opportunities” and the study will be pulled together for committee and Board of Supervisors to review. He also said the study so far points to some opportunities, but “not a huge windfall of savings.”

Reviews of city departments are under way in the performance metrics arena as well and a draft of that study will come before the group later.

“We’ve developed a draft set of measures,” he said, adding they are keyed to objectives, outcomes, cost of services, efficiencies, and impact on strategic goals.

The committee also heard from Daniel Carter of Reno, who is with Kafoury, Armstrong & Co. and is handling city government’s external audit. He said no control deficiencies had been found.