Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Licensing Audit Dopl topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DOPL audit flags excessive board cash balances; division seeks inspector pay increases and vehicle replacements
Summary
Legislative auditors flagged elevated cash balances across boards managed by the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses; the division is implementing fee changes and seeks funding for inspector pay increases, vehicles and hardware to address turnover and operational needs.
Legislative auditors and division officials told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Feb. 6 that the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL) is working to correct elevated cash balances across the professional boards it manages and seeks funding to address inspector turnover and operational needs.
Kellen McGurkin, a budget and policy analyst with Legislative Services, told the committee that DOPL was created by House Bill 318 (2020), consolidating what had been 11 agencies into the current division overseeing roughly 45 boards and commissions and hundreds of thousands of licensees. McGurkin said the division’s budget is entirely dedicated and federal funds; he highlighted receipts and transfers of about $83 million in a recent year, which included $50 million moved from prior board cash balances and about $30 million in newly collected licensing revenues.
Audit staff told the committee the division has been working on long‑running audit findings related to individual board cash balances. April Renfro of Legislative Audit said the open finding concerns boards holding cash balances outside a reasonableness range based on five‑year rolling averages (reporting ranges discussed at 30% minimum and 125% maximum as reasonableness bounds). DOPL has been producing reports and plans to reduce excessive balances; auditors said reducing balances via fee adjustments will take multiple licensing cycles to show results and that they will continue follow‑up work.
DOPL Administrator Russell (Russ) Baron said the division is implementing fee reductions, fee holidays and rule changes where appropriate and provided the committee with board‑level plans. Baron and his staff requested several budget items for FY 2026 tied to operational needs: $222,000 ongoing dedicated funds to increase inspector pay (an average 95¢ per hour increase across 92 FTP), $900,500 one‑time dedicated funds for vehicle replacements (detailed at $648,000 for 16 Ford F‑150 pickups; $165,000 for five Ford Escapes; $44,500 for one Ford F‑250; and $43,000 for one Ford Explorer), and $146,401 one‑time dedicated funds for hardware recommended by the Office of Information and Technology Services. McGurkin said the $900,500 vehicle request includes vehicles for both the Bureau of Building, Construction and Real Estate and the Bureau of Occupational Licenses.
Baron, responding to committee questions, said inspector turnover has ranged from about 12% to as high as 67% in recent years for specific programs. He said starting pay for the trades inspectors is currently about $27.50 per hour and that the division’s plan would raise the starting wage to about $28.60 and includes a roughly 2.5% compression adjustment; he described the increases as necessary to recruit and retain staff who are moving to higher‑paying private and local government roles.
Auditors, committee staff and DOPL agreed the division has submitted a corrective plan attached to the audit and will provide updated reports to legislative committees; committee members asked DOPL for a board‑level breakdown of cash balances and a follow‑up meeting to review progress.
