The City Auditor's Office has just put out a new report that takes a hard look at how the city is handling its business relationships with vendors, covering everything from the diligence performed before sealing the deal to how the contracts are managed after the ink has dried. The findings, detailed by the City of Denton, reveal a mixed bag: the city's doing an okay job at keeping risks at bay, but there's room for improvement.
On one hand, the report commends the city on procedures that are doing enough to reduce potential threats to the municipal purse and reputation. However, it points out that the city could stand to fully embrace more consistent intensive checking up on their potential partners before signing contracts. There's also a call to action for the city to more closely watch and report on its involvement with historically underutilized businesses, which could give life to its goals for more inclusive contracting.
When it comes down to the staff who are right in the trenches managing these contracts, they're somewhat out there without a paddle. The report indicates there's a scarcity of resources available to help guide them. Though contracts are generally up to par in terms of clarity, the city might want to consider beefing them up with more specific requirements.
Drilling down into the nitty-gritty of the financial management aspect, it seems that purchase orders are getting the green light as they should, but then there's an overreliance on lump-sum payments that muddies up the process known as the three-way match—a safeguard that should make sure everything adds up before a vendor gets paid. This practice is causing vendors to wait longer than necessary to pocket their payments. Plus, there's a bit of a red flag raised on data protection; access to vendor info isn't quite on lockdown, and the need for regular data reviews has been largely overlooked.
