Report 2011-120 Recommendation 17 Responses

Report 2011-120: California Department of Transportation: Its Poor Management of State Route 710 Extension Project Properties Costs the State Millions of Dollars Annually, Yet State Law Limits the Potential Income From Selling the Properties (Release Date: August 2012)

Recommendation #17 To: Transportation, Department of

To ensure that the repairs it makes to the SR 710 properties are necessary and reasonable, Caltrans should retain in its project files evidence to support the necessity and reasonableness of repairs, such as change orders, annual field inspections, and analyses of cost-effectiveness.

6-Month Agency Response

Caltrans' District 7 office management issued a memo on September 27, 2012, instructing staff to retain the required evidence to support the necessity and reasonableness of repairs in the project files, effective immediately. Caltrans stated that it now requires the forms documenting cost-recovery analysis, change orders, and roof assessments to be attached to the annual inspection documents and retained in the maintenance file.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Fully Implemented

Caltrans retains evidence to support its determinations that repairs of SR 710 properties are necessary and reasonable including, but not limited to, photo evidence of conditions, cost analyses, scope of work documentation, and repair authorizations. Our review in May 2017 found significant improvement in the documentation Caltrans retained after June 2016.

60-Day Agency Response

Caltrans' District 7 office management issued a memo on September 27, 2012, instructing staff to retain the required evidence to support the necessity and reasonableness of repairs in the project files, effective immediately. Caltrans also stated that it is on track to issue the specific policy and provide training to the appropriate staff by December 31, 2012. (See 2013-406, p. 172)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Partially Implemented

All Recommendations in 2011-120

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.