The AOC Inspector General’s Statement of Management Opportunities and Performance Challenges (continued)

Property Accountability and Surplus Property Disposal

In December 2013, the AOC developed improved property controls and published their new Personal Property Manual for the accountability of government property valued at over $1,500. The OIG has identified, however, significant risks concerning hand and power tools, which are easily pilfered. These tools are used in the craft or construction trades or are Information Technology (IT) equipment, all of which are valued below that $1,500 accountable threshold. This government property may be easily pilfered and is generally not inventoried or otherwise managed in either WebTMA or Maximo, the two property accountability systems currently in place within AOC.

The separate jurisdictions have differing internal procedures to account for the issuance and return of hand tools, and in most instances new tools are simply issued to employees if the tools issued earlier are reported lost or stolen, with no reports of survey or other accountability on the missing property. The proper application of the Personal Property Manual requires standard operating procedures on the jurisdiction level for comprehensive coverage. On an AOC-wide basis, few Report of Survey investigations have been completed to determine the reasons for the missing property regardless of the dollar value, the financial accountability for those who lost the property has been weak, at best. Having this Report of Survey process, as part of the Personal Property Manual is laudable, however, the policy has not been fully implemented and enforced.

IT equipment, which is highly susceptible to theft, is recorded in a completely separate, contractor-managed, IT inventory process that has been prone to significant errors in accuracy and lost accountability of government property through inadequate receipt and turn-in procedures. The most recent inventory by an outside contractor identified significant overages of property that had been located in work centers, but were not on prior inventory records. The information on exactly what IT property is missing has not yet been fully determined, but the OIG inquiries led to ongoing efforts to improve the IT inventory process.

Similarly, the OIG has identified serious concerns with the appropriate disposition of surplus property. These concerns surfaced through several investigations and proactive surveys. Recyclable materials had been disposed of without adequate vendor competition, and building materials, live plants and other property was destroyed, based on the mistaken impression that it could not be disposed of in a more productive manner. This property could have been used elsewhere within the AOC or donated to charitable organizations under recently-enacted statutory authority that provides options for disposal of surplus property. This disposal must be in accord with all legal requirements.

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