Audit finds Michigan needs better financial control over PPE, COVID-19 purchases
Updated Jan 26, 2021;
Posted Jan 26, 2021
Michelle Moore poses for a portrait in full PPE at the rolling drive-thru COVID-19 testing lab at Comstock High School in Comstock Township, Michigan on Tuesday, May 5, 2020. (Kendall Warner | MLive.com)Kendall Warner | MLive.com
Facebook Share
LANSING, MI - The state agency in charge of purchasing personal protective equipment and other COVID-19 prevention supplies lacked control over millions of dollars in expenditures, according to a new state audit.
While the overall assessment was that billions of dollars in pandemic expenditures were “appropriate,” the Office of the Auditor General released a report Jan. 26 criticizing the Department of Technology, Management and Budget for lacking financial controls in two ways.
Audit criticizes state s deployment of COVID-19 funds, targets shared P-cards, advance payments
Beth LeBlanc,
FacebookTwitterEmail
(TNS) A state auditor raised concern Tuesday about the state s use of procurement cards for pandemic-related purchases as well as the lack of emergency procurement policies that were in place ahead of the pandemic.
Contrary to best practice, some procurement cards were shared among employees, the state did not have proof of the receipt of all goods purchased with the cards and some payments were made before the actual product or service was in hand, according to a Tuesday report from Auditor General Doug Ringler.
A state auditor raised concern Tuesday about the state’s use of procurement cards for pandemic-related purchases as well as the lack of emergency procurement policies that were in place ahead of the pandemic.
Contrary to best practice, some procurement cards were shared among employees, the state did not have proof of the receipt of all goods purchased with the cards and some payments were made before the actual product or service was in hand, according to a Tuesday report from Auditor General Doug Ringler.
Specifically, the Department of Technology, Management and Budget wired $96.9 million to 15 vendors before receiving the goods and services that it was purchasing, according to the report from Ringler s office. About $23.1 million was recalled after vendors pushed the state lower in their production schedules and delayed delivery.
Chris Kolb, who currently serves as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s state budget director, has been appointed vice president for government relations at the University of Michigan.
Kolb has more than 20 years of experience in public service both in the government and nonprofit sectors, including three terms in the Michigan House of Representatives.
His five-year appointment effective Jan. 19 is authorized by President Mark Schlissel, and follows the recommendation from a national search conducted by a search advisory committee. The appointment will be reported to the Board of Regents at its February meeting.
“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Kolb as the vice president for government relations at the University of Michigan,” Schlissel said. “Chris has embraced public service throughout his career, with extensive experience in state and local government, public policy and community relations.”