AUDIT / TASK: #17-06, Resources Division AUDIT CLIENT: Parks and Recreation Department REPORT DATE: February 16, 2018 AUDIT GRADE: Satisfactory

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1 A REPORT FROM THE PRESENTED TO THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF BOISE, IDAHO AUDIT / TASK: #17-06, Resources Division AUDIT CLIENT: Parks and Recreation Department REPORT DATE: February 16, 2018 AUDIT GRADE: Satisfactory REPORT AUTHOR: APPROVED FOR RELEASE: Steven Rehn, CIA CFSA Steven Rehn, CIA CFSA Director of Internal Audit AUTHORITY: Boise City Code, FY2017 Work Plan

2 TASK #17-06, Parks and Recreation Resources Division DATE OF ENGAGEMENT: August 29, 2017 INTRODUCTION The City s Parks and Recreation Department provides a wide assortment of services to the citizens of Boise, and is responsible for developing and / or maintaining an equally large number of parks and facilities that are made available for public use. Chief amongst those facilities are the parks, sports fields, cemeteries, and the greenbelt trails. Parks also maintains trees planted on the public rights-of-way, as well as the planted rights-of-way themselves. Within the Parks Department, the Resources Division is primarily responsible for the care and maintenance of these physical facilities, as well as for the trees and rights-of-way. The Resources Division is comprised of four main sub-divisions. Those are: (1) Infrastructure; (2) Horticulture; (3) Forestry; and, (4) Special Services. Infrastructure The Infrastructure group is primarily responsible for larger maintenance projects involving Parks properties; for greenbelt construction, repair, and maintenance; for maintaining playground structures and equipment within the parks; and for special projects as those emerge. This group has averaged just over $1.5 Million in budgeted expenditures the past four fiscal years. Horticulture This group is tasked with turf management on Parks properties. This includes all mowing, trimming, edging, irrigation, and chemical applications. Horticulture s budgeted expenditures averaged approximately $1.97 Million per year for the period FY2014 FY2017. Forestry Forestry, under the direction of the City Forester, is responsible for managing and regulating the planting, maintenance, protection, removal, and replacement of public trees within the City limits. This group has also assumed responsibility for the care and maintenance of all trees planted upon the public rights-of-way within the city. Seasonally they also place the City s Christmas tree, and the street decorations in the downtown area. Over the last four fiscal years, Forestry has been budgeted to spend approximately $1.37 Million per year. 2

3 Special Services This group is responsible for operation, care, and maintenance of the City s three cemeteries; which includes providing interment / dis-interment services, and care and maintenance of the mausoleum at Morris Hill Cemetery. They also provide for ongoing operation and maintenance of all Sports Fields the Parks Department makes available to the public, as well as for maintenance and repair of the City s swimming pools. Additionally, Special Services provides custodial services for public restrooms situated in the various parks and sports fields. Total budgeted expenditures for this group has averaged just under $1.35 Million per year for the period FY2014 FY2017. Combined, these four groups are staffed by 61 regular employees. Due to seasonal demands, this headcount grows by 50 or more through the addition of temporary staff members in the warmer months. In terms of amount of parklands maintained, the City s current park properties are sized at between 1,300 and 1,400 acres. Projections suggest a total acreage of over 1,600 is possible if current rates of growth are sustained over the next several years. Assessments have gauged Boise s parks to be very well maintained. A 2009 review by an independent consultant placed the quality of Boise s parks and associated facilities well above those of facilities in similar sized cities, attesting to the overall quality of the care and maintenance provided by the Resources Division. 3

4 SCOPE AND METHODOLOGIES Overall, the purpose of our review was to assess the operations of the various groups within the Resources Division of Parks and Recreation. The operating and control environment should be structured to ensure that these groups are functioning efficiently and effectively; and that compliance with governing laws, rules, and regulations is achieved. Internal Audit selected a scope period that included fiscal years 2014 through the date of audit in fiscal year To enhance the level of relevance, our primary focus for operational activities was on more recent activities. Specific objectives established for the project were: Evaluate whether control mechanisms and procedures are sufficient to ensure that operating assets are safeguarded, and are utilized effectively and efficiently. Determine that the activities of vendors and out-source service providers are properly monitored and managed. Ensure that applicable staff training and licensing requirements are being met. Determine that associated regulatory requirements are satisfied. Audit utilized a combination of interviews, observations, and detailed testing during the conduct of the review. The results were deemed to be sufficient to support the observations and recommendations contained within this report. 4

5 EVALUATION AND COMMENTS Based on the work performed, the control environment that has been implemented in the Resources Division of Parks & Recreation appears to be functioning in a Satisfactory manner. We did not detect any conditions that appeared to pose a substantial risk to the Division s ability to accomplish its goals and objectives. (Refer to Appendix A for additional details concerning Internal Audit s existing grading scale.) During the conduct of the audit, we reviewed a wide range of activities across the four sub-divisions that compose the larger Resources Division. While each of these areas had their own unique goals and objectives, there did exist some commonalities. We noted two areas, common to most or all, where opportunities for improvement appeared to exist. Those involved employee training, and the need to pursue more frequent updates to guidelines governing pest management and chemical applications. Audit provided management with observations in these areas, and left corrective action to their discretion. Additional detail relative to these issues appears in the Other Areas of Concern section of the report that follows. No other issues worthy of separate mention were noted. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Audit did not document any Findings during the conduct of this review. See the following report section for additional observations we provided to management. 5

6 OTHER AREAS OF CONCERN Internal Audit utilizes Other Area of Concern to provide management with feedback on issues noted during a project that appear to deserve additional management attention. Audit issued the following comments during the engagement, with any follow-up left solely to the discretion of management. Documenting Training Activities During Audit s review, we discussed safety and training issues with managers from each of the four major areas in the division Special Services, Forestry, Horticulture, and Infrastructure. We also interviewed the City s Safety / Risk Manager relative to expectations for these areas, and examined training records available on the City s ilearn training platform. We noted the following: The ilearn platform does not currently house a broad selection of courses applicable to various sub-divisions in the Resources area. Key safety training areas identified by each of the managers we interviewed were not always available on the ilearn system. A sample of employees drawn from each of the four sub-divisions did not always reflect congruous trainings on the ilearn system. Division management was not able to locate a tracking / monitoring file for employee training requirements and completions that had been maintained previously. Risk Management places significant reliance on area managers to provide employees with the training necessary to their job duties. Some Resources managers indicated they did not always document trainings they provided to their staff members. Resources Division staff often work with, or work around dangerous equipment and conditions, posing varying degrees of risk to personal safety. Significant reliance is placed on front-line management to deploy a work force that is adequately trained and safety-conscious. Risk / Safety indicates it is industry best-practice to document on-the-job, and other training activities that are routinely undertaken by management. 6

7 Audit recommends that the Division strongly consider implementing a recordkeeping system to document key training that has been provided to employees. Doing so could help mitigate risk to the City should negative events occur, such as those involving property damage or personal injuries. It could also document if there are any gaps in training. Pest Management Guidelines Audit obtained and reviewed Parks & Recreation s Pest Management Guidelines. Those guidelines were created to provide department staff with: an overview of the department s philosophy concerning plant health care and pest control and specific guidelines for implementing that philosophy The document appears to be a foundational reference tool for staff who become involved in managing this aspect of Parks resources. While examining the document, we noted areas where it appeared to be in need of updating: The most recent revision may have occurred in The document contains a number of telephone listings some numbers for City extensions were outdated; those of external parties may be as well. The approved chemical database listing; when compared to the Chemical Storage Listing, and the current chemical inventory records; appears to be incomplete. The licensed applicator listing does not include all department personnel who are currently licensed. Tables that present locations, as well as associated call lists, may not be current. The value of the guidelines as a viable reference tool is impaired if they are not maintained to a reasonably current state. Internal Audit recommends department management consider revising and replacing those portions of the document that are in need of update. They should also ensure that a periodic review protocol is in place that will assist in keeping the guidelines updated and current. 7

8 CONCLUSION As indicated earlier, the Resources Division is made up of four separate subdivisions each with their own unique focus. However, there are areas where group tasking overlaps; turf maintenance, irrigation, chemical applications, and special projects for example. The groups work cooperatively to ensure that tasks are completed as efficiently and effectively as possible, which is facilitated by a common-sense deployment of existing staff resources by the groups. The result is a system of parks, facilities, and amenities that is maintained at a very high level, for the use and enjoyment of the citizens of Boise. Internal Audit would like to extend its appreciation to staff and management of the Parks Resources Division for their assistance during the completion of this project. MANAGEMENT PARTICIPANTS Jennifer Tomlinson, Superintendent of Resources / Parks & Recreation Eden Belanger, Resources Division Manager / Parks & Recreation Brian Jorgensen, Forestry Manager / Parks & Recreation Ken Reeves, Special Services Manager / Parks & Recreation Mike Woodward, Horticulture Manager / Parks & Recreation 8

9 APPENDIX A Evaluation and Grading of Audits Each audit will be evaluated or graded, and will receive one of the three following ratings. Grades will be assigned based on the perceived best fit. Thus, not all attributes associated with an assigned grade may be present within a given Department or Division. Satisfactory No significant weaknesses or operational issues were noted during the audit. If any issues were noted, they did not materially detract from the business unit s ability to deliver services and / or to accomplish defined mission, goals, and objectives. Overall, systems of internal control are effective, and management oversight is adequate and effective. Needs Improvement Weaknesses or issues detrimental to operational efficiency or effectiveness existed within the audited area, and were encountered frequently enough to lose the appearance of isolated. Issues noted were strongly suggestive of an impaired ability to provide services at needed levels, or to accomplish mission, goals, and objectives successfully. Internal control mechanisms may not be universally in place, implemented, or actively observed. Management oversight is weak. Unsatisfactory Material or significant issues were noted within the operations under review. Issues posed risks that were mission-fatal; the business unit could not successfully deliver services in an acceptable fashion. Management failed to implement appropriate internal control mechanisms. Management oversight is ineffective, absent, or willfully avoided. 9