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Committee backs Budget & Legislative Analyst work plan, directs return to 2010 hours
Summary
The Board of Supervisors— Government Audit and Oversight Committee voted March 10 to approve the Budget & Legislative Analyst—s 2011 work plan and directed staff to revert to the 2010 hours allocation, after a presentation about expanded department reviews and public comment asking for further hospital audits.
The Board of Supervisors— Government Audit and Oversight Committee on March 10 recommended approval of the Budget and Legislative Analyst Office—s annual work plan and asked staff to restore the prior hours allocation.
Severn Campbell, from the Budget and Legislative Analyst Office, told the committee the office—s work covers legislative analysis, performance audits, special projects, and the annual budget review. "Under our contract ... we are required to submit a work plan for approval of the board each year and performance goals," Campbell said, describing a companion letter that lays out performance goals for 2011.
Campbell said the office proposed shifting hours back to review departments the office omitted last year, including museums, the retirement system and the health service system. She noted the office previously identified about $7,000,000 in encumbered funds that needed to be returned to the fund balance, and recommended combining special-request and performance-audit hours into a single, more flexible pool.
The BLA proposed a structure that would allow individual requests up to 150 hours; any request that needed more would require a motion of the full Board. Campbell estimated a department audit would consume roughly 1,000 hours while smaller projects would require roughly 500 hours or less.
During public comment, Douglas Shep, a long-time San Francisco resident, urged auditors to examine Laguna Honda Hospital and San Francisco General Hospital finances and patient-fund management. "Laguna Honda Hospital needs to be further investigated publicly," Shep said, and pointed supervisors toward recent press coverage and past investigations.
Supervisor Mark Farrell moved to approve Item 1, send it to the full Board, and direct the Budget & Legislative Analyst to revert to the 2010 hours allocation. The motion was taken without objection and will appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda for final approval.
The committee did not record a roll-call vote in the meeting transcript; the measure will be formally acted on by the full Board on March 15 or at a subsequent meeting.
