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This letter highlights the importance of enforcing the City of New Orleans (City) short-term rental regulations. This letter will also address the potential for the City to collect a significant amount of money from fines for short-term rental violations. The Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) concern with the City’s ongoing short-term rental issues is primarily focused on the City’s lack of enforcement of its own short-term rental regulations. If implemented effectively, the City’s new plan to quadruple the number of City workers dedicated to short-term rental enforcement could vastly increase the number of violations brought up for administrative hearings, deterring illegal short-term rentals.

For the 12 illegal short-term rentals identified by the OIG, the auditors reviewed all nights booked for the year ending on December 31, 2022. Per the terms of the above-described ordinance, the City may be able to levy and collect a minimum fine of $500 per night, which could result in fines of at least $519,500 for the year 2022

he City of New Orleans Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a performance audit of the City of New Orleans’ (City) Department of Safety and Permits (S&P). The objective of the audit was to determine if S&P inspectors (City inspectors) conducted their inspections in accordance with S&P policies and procedures. The scope of the audit was all building, mechanical and electrical permit inspections conducted by City inspectors during the period April 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020.

The audit resulted in the following major findings:

  • City inspectors did not perform in-person inspections for 20% of the inspections selected for review
  • City inspectors did not spend adequate time conducting inspections, spending ten minutes or less for 40% of the inspections reviewed.
  • City inspectors did not upload required documentation into LAMA in violation of S&P policies and procedures.

The objectives of the audit were to determine if:

  • The City and the S&WB had sufficient policies and procedures as it related to the coordination of the JIRR Program, and if those policies were effectively implemented.
  • The S&WB submitted accurate and timely data to the City to eliminate newly paved roads being torn up for pre-existing drainage repairs.
  • The S&WB repaved utility cuts timely after completing subsurface repair work.

The scope of the audit included JIRR Program projects with invoices paid for City and S&WB expenses during the period January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020. Auditors selected eight projects for testing, totaling $27,352,907 of invoices paid during the scope period.

BRASS is the City’s critical financial infrastructure. In 2021, the City processed approximately $1.1 billion through this procurement and accounts payable system. Because of the serious issues in the prior audit reports and the critical nature of BRASS, the OIG deemed it necessary to conduct this audit to determine if BRASS resolved those past issues and if the new internal controls were designed and implemented properly and operating effectively.

What the OIG Found:

The OIG reviewed procurement and disbursements information from July 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020 and found the City made significant improvements and implemented critical internal controls that operated effectively. The OIG noted:

The City implemented proper segregation of duties within BRASS. The Purchasing and Accounts Payable Departments properlyapproved the necessary procurement and disbursement documents (e.g. requisitions, purchase orders (POs), invoices, etc.) and those approvals were issued by different employees.

BRASS contained an appropriate audit trail. BRASS adequately documented when purchases were created and approved, and by whom. Contracts, POs, invoices, disbursements, and related documents were maintained in BRASS and easily accessible.

In August 2019, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report titled “Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans Internal Audit Department Performance Audit” (2019 Report). The OIG conducted a follow-up audit to its 2019 Report. The objective of the follow-up audit was to determine if the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (S&WB) implemented the OIG’s recommendations from the 2019 Report and/or implemented other policies or procedures to resolve the OIG’s findings.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a performance audit of the Audubon Nature Institute’s (Institute) internal controls over the employee new hire, termination, payroll, and executive compensation processes. The objectives of the audit were to determine if: 1. The Institute’s policies governing the payroll process, including new hires and terminations, provided adequate controls to ensure all payroll expenses were business-related and allowed by law; 2. The Institute’s policies governing the payroll process, including new hires and terminations, complied with best practices; and 3. The Institute complied with its policies, as well as applicable laws and/or best practices, as it pertained to the expenditure of the Audubon Commission (Commission) funds.

The Commission was an unattached board within the Executive Branch of the City of New Orleans (City), and was governed by the City of New Orleans Home Rule Charter (Charter). 1 The Commission was a public entity comprised of 24 board members who were each appointed to a six-year term by the City Mayor with the advice and consent of the New Orleans City Council (Council).The Commission was charged with administering, operating, and maintaining Audubon Park and Riverview, Audubon Zoo, Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium, Woldenberg Riverfront Park, Entergy Giant Screen Theater, Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Center, Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species, Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, and Audubon Wilderness Park (collectively referred to as the Audubon Facilities).2 The Audubon Facilities were and remain public assets held in the name of the Commission.3 As a public entity, Commission funds were public funds and use of those funds was subject to the La. Const. art. VII, §14(A) which prohibited the donation of public funds. On October 24, 2013, the Commission entered into a Management and Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (Contract) with the Institute, a private non-1 City of New Orleans Home Rule Charter (Charter), §§4-102 and 5-802.2 Charter, §5-802.3 Charter, §9-301(1) (“All public property held by the City of New Orleans or by any… board of the City of New Orleans at the effective date of this charter … shall be the property of the City.”)

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a performance audit of the Audubon Nature Institute’s (Institute) use of funds for the period of January1, 2012, through December 31, 2014. The objectives of the audit were todetermine if:

The Institute’s policies governing expenditures complied with best practices and provided adequate controls to ensure all expenses were business-related and allowed by law; and

The Institute complied with its policies, as well as applicable laws and/or best practices, as it pertained to the expenditure of Commission funds.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a performance audit of the Audubon Nature Institute’s (Institute) internal controls over employee purchase card transactions and expense reimbursements for the period January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2014. The objectives of the audit were to determine if:

The Institute’s policies governing purchase card transactions complied with best practices and provided adequate controls to ensure all expenses were business related and allowed by law;

The Institute’s policies governing expense reimbursements were in compliance with best practices and provided adequate controls to ensure that all reimbursements were business-related and allowed by law; and

The Institute complied with its policies as well as applicable laws and/or best practices as it pertained to the expenditure of Commission funds.

Auditors found positive results during follow-up testing that demonstrated that the FMC implemented the majority of the 2013 report’s recommendations. All FMC sponsorship payments to other organizations included a cooperative endeavor agreement (CEA) which was in compliance with the Louisiana Constitution. The FMC also ended a lease agreement where it previously earned $1.00 per year, and instead, entered into a new lease agreement where the FMC collected approximately $180,000 in the first year.

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