Presentation

City of Mesa — Audit, Finance and Enterprise Committee (2026-01-22)

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City Auditor 
Presentation to the Audit, Finance and Enterprise Committee
January 15, 2026
Joseph Lisitano, City Auditor

DoIT – Remote Access Follow-up Review
Transportation – Street Maintenance Program Follow-up Review
Citywide – IGAs Cost Recovery Follow-up Review
Human Resources – Hiring and Recruitment Practices
City Attorney – VOCA Program 
Reports Issued July 2025 – January 2026

DoIT – Remote Access Follow-up Review
Report Date: 7/31/2025
A follow-up review to ensure action plans were successfully 
implemented.

DoIT – Remote Access Follow-up Review
Follow-up Review
4
What did
we find?
Status of recommendation from July 2024 report:
Develop and implement policies and procedures for 
managing remote access VPN that address the 
following: 
o Roles and responsibilities of staff involved in VPN 
management. 
o The process for ensuring its VPN client is secure and 
undergoes the required scheduled maintenance. 
o The process for detecting and responding to VPN-related 
issues, including establishing an incident response plan.
o Continuously reviewing and updating its policies and 
procedures to ensure it appropriately addresses evolving 
security threats and advances in VPN technology. 
Implemented

Transportation – Street Maintenance 
Program Follow-up Review
Report Date: 8/21/2025
A follow-up review to ensure action plans were successfully 
implemented.

Transportation – Street Maintenance Program Follow-up Review
Follow-up Review
6
What did
we find?
Status of recommendations from March 2023 report:
Develop and implement policies and procedures to 
address the following: 
o Monitor third-party contractors to ensure it collects 
required documentation (e.g., independent material test, 
temperature gauge calibration, and citizen notifications).
o Retain documentation of inspections. 
o Periodically review contracts to ensure terms and 
conditions are still applicable. 
Enforce or modify the terms and conditions of its 
third-party contracts. 
Implemented

Transportation – Street Maintenance Program Follow-up Review
Follow-up Review
7
What did
we find?
Status of recommendations from March 2023 report:
Develop and implement policies and procedures to 
address how City streets are prioritized for treatment, 
such as: 
o The forecasting process for identifying City streets that need 
treatment and documenting criteria used.
o Retain documentation of the process and any adjustments. 
o Review and approval of the streets selected for treatment.
o Periodic review of the process to ensure criteria is relevant 
and appropriate.
Implemented

Transportation – Street Maintenance Program Follow-up Review
Follow-up Review
8
What did
we find?
Status of recommendations from March 2023 report:
Develop and implement policies to address the 
following:
o The process for performing pavement condition surveys, 
including frequency and criteria. 
o Retain documentation to support the pavement condition 
data on record. 
o Review pavement condition data entered into the 
pavement management software to ensure it accurately 
reflects the pavement condition. 
Ensure user activity is logged in the department’s 
pavement management software to prevent or detect 
inappropriate changes to pavement condition data.
In Progress

Transportation – Street Maintenance Program Follow-up Review
Follow-up Review
9
What did
we find?
Status of recommendations from March 2023 report:
Perform monitoring procedures to ensure that pavement 
condition data provided by its third-party contractor is 
accurate and reliable including:
o
Retain documentation of procedures performed to 
demonstrate the pavement condition data was reviewed.
o
Verify the pavement condition data was properly uploaded into 
the pavement management system.
o
Request documentation of the quality control process and 
procedures performed.
Review its annual forecasting process, including the 
criteria used to prioritize which streets receive pavement 
treatment. In addition, review its budgeting process to 
ensure funding is allocated equitably for projects 
throughout the City.
In Progress

Transportation – Street Maintenance Program Follow-up Review
Follow-up Review
10
Follow-up
• We will perform a second follow-up review 
in approximately 1 year.
• We will remain engaged with the 
department throughout the process to help 
ensure successful implementation.

Citywide – Intergovernmental Agreements 
Cost Recovery Follow-up Review
Report Date: 1/6/2026
A follow-up review to ensure action plans were successfully 
implemented.

Citywide – Intergovernmental Agreements Cost Recovery Follow-up Review
Follow-up Review
12
What did
we find?
Status of recommendations from March 2025 report:
To comply with City Management Policy, departments 
should develop and implement a process to ensure all 
signed and executed IGAs are filed with Real Estate 
Services.  
To ensure costs are fully recovered, departments 
should develop and implement policies and 
procedures to address the following:
o The process for preparing invoices to ensure the proper 
amount, including only reimbursable costs, was invoiced. 
o The process for tracking payments to ensure all costs have 
been fully recovered.
Implemented

Human Resources – Hiring and Recruitment 
Practices
Report Date: 1/6/2026
An audit to determine whether hiring and recruitment 
practices are consistent with industry standards and are 
sufficient to comply with applicable policies, statutes, and 
other requirements.

Human Resources – Hiring and Recruitment Practices
Follow-up Review
14
What did
we audit 
and why?
•
Interviewed department personnel, performed walkthroughs 
of the department’s online recruitment system and reviewed 
policies and procedures.
•
Selected a sample of 40 job recruitments to determine 
whether the department complied with its policies and 
procedures.
•
Reviewed recruitment documentation to determine that 
qualified candidates were selected.
•
Analyzed job requisition data to compare time-to-hire 
metrics with industry standards.
•
Why? To determine whether the department’s hiring and 
recruitment practices are consistent with industry standards 
and comply with applicable policies, statutes, and other 
requirements.

Human Resources – Hiring and Recruitment Practices
Follow-up Review
15
What did
we find and 
recommend?
Policies and procedures for the hiring and recruiting process 
were not always followed.
Recommendation:
To ensure compliance with policies and procedures, HR should 
perform the following: 
o
Provide training to City departments of the requirements for 
selecting board members.
o
Retain all interview and testing documentation in their 
online recruitment system.
o
Require departments to provide documentation 
demonstrating that they verified all job requirements.

Human Resources – Hiring and Recruitment Practices
Follow-up Review
16
What did
we find and 
recommend?
Policies and procedures for the hiring and recruiting process 
were not always followed.
Recommendation:
To ensure the accuracy of the data entered into the online 
recruitment system, HR should develop and implement 
procedures to address the process for reviewing and properly 
entering interview scores for candidates.

Human Resources – Hiring and Recruitment Practices
Follow-up Review
17
Response and 
Follow-up
• Management agrees with the recommendations 
and is implementing a corrective action plan.  
• We will remain engaged with the department 
throughout the process to help ensure successful 
implementation.
• We will perform a follow-up review in 
approximately 1 year.

City Attorney – VOCA Program
Report Date: 1/6/2026
An audit to determine whether effective controls are in 
place to properly administer the Victims of Crime Act Crime 
Victim Assistance Program in accordance with applicable 
policies, statutes, and other requirements.

City Attorney – VOCA Program
Follow-up Review
19
What did
we audit 
and why?
• Interviewed the Victim Services Administrator and 
reviewed policies and procedures to gain an 
understanding of the program.
• Reviewed DPS and federal grant requirements to 
determine the requirements of the program.
• Tested a sample of expenditures to ensure costs were 
allowable.
• Tested financial and programmatic reports to ensure 
they were complete, accurate, and adequately 
supported
• Why? To ensure effective controls were in place and the 
department complied with the program requirements.

City Attorney – VOCA Program-up Review
20
What did
we find and 
recommend?
In our opinion, effective controls are in place to ensure that 
the department administers the program in accordance with 
applicable policies, statutes, and other requirements.

Questions?