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DOPL briefs committee on high cash balances, audit follow-up and inspector pay request
Summary
The Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses told JFAC it is addressing long-standing audit findings about excessive cash balances, implementing fee reductions and seeking targeted pay increases and vehicle replacements for inspectors to reduce vacancies and improve inspection timeliness.
Boise — The Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL) told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Feb. 6 that it is working to correct long-standing audit findings related to high cash balances, is implementing fee reductions and proposed targeted pay and equipment funding to reduce vacancies among inspectors.
Kellen McGurkin, budget and policy analyst for Legislative Services, told members DOPL formed in 2020 under House Bill 318 and now oversees roughly 200,000 licensees across about 45 boards and commissions. He said the agency is funded entirely by dedicated and federal funds and that receipts and transfers in recent years included large one-time transfers from board cash balances and new licensing revenues.
Auditor April Renfro summarized the open audit issue to the committee as focused on cash balances: auditors use a reasonableness range — roughly a 30 percent to 125 percent window based on a five-year rolling average — to flag boards with either too little or too much cash on hand. Renfro said DOPL has been providing reports and plans to reduce excessive balances and that the audit team will continue follow-up work.
DOPL Administrator Russ Baron and staff described a suite of management steps. Baron said the agency has been consolidating boards, implementing a modern licensing system, and working with boards to lower fees or create fee holidays where appropriate. “These are fees collected for inspections or from licensees to be licensed,” he said, underscoring the agency’s reliance on dedicated funds.
Baron and analysts identified workforce issues in the Bureau of Building, Construction and Real Estate: McGurkin said the agency is requesting $222,000 ongoing dedicated funds to increase pay for inspector positions by an average of 95 cents per hour across 92 FTP, citing high turnover and pay below industry standards. DOPL also requested $900,500 one-time dedicated funds for vehicle replacements (including 16 Ford F-150s, five Ford Escapes, one Ford F-250 and one Ford Explorer) and $146,401 one-time dedicated funds for recommended hardware upgrades.
Committee members pressed on cash balances and next steps. Senator Hart asked for the objective of House Bill 318; staff said the bill consolidated multiple boards into a single division. Auditor Renfro said cash-balance findings are not universal across agencies but flagged when boards lack a clear policy or do not follow it. Representative Tanner and others asked for additional analysis of which boards are growing and why; Baron committed to providing the committee the board-level plans and reports attached to the agency’s December submission.
Baron described operational benefits from the new licensing system, noting phased releases last summer and fall and saying staff have been able to provide same-day determinations in some cases. He said the consolidation and system changes have allowed some economies and reduced duplicative paperwork for licensees, though forecasting fee impacts remains challenging.
Ending — The committee heard audit staff say they will continue follow-up on DOPL’s cash-balance reports. Baron said he would provide the committee digital copies of the board-level cash-balance plans and implementation timelines requested by members.
