City Auditor flags weak timekeeping and overtime controls at Baltimore City Recreation and Parks

City Auditor Josh Pash presented a biannual performance audit May 7 that found weaknesses in Baltimore City Recreation and Parks’ controls over timekeeping, payroll approvals and overtime documentation, and the agency proposed a corrective action plan that includes staff training, a new overtime policy and a Workday geofencing feasibility study.

Pash said the audit assessed “the effectiveness of controls over resource management and payroll” for fiscal years 2022–23 and examined four divisions — aquatics, recreation centers, park maintenance and urban forestry. He told the Board of Estimates the audit testing showed the agency’s approval process “is not effective,” increasing the risk that employees could be paid for hours not worked.

The audit found that backup systems meant to verify in-person attendance — including DigiQuatics, CivicRec and paper sign-in sheets — were used inconsistently and often could not be reconciled to Workday time data. In a sample of overtime requests, auditors found 78 of 444 requests (17%)…