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DAFS commissioner disputes several 2024 audit findings on sole‑source notices but acknowledges limited errors
Summary
Elena Clark, commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, told the oversight committee that many of the 2024 state auditor’s concerns about sole‑source procurement relate to rolling renewals, grants or legitimate single‑source needs and that OSPS and the Office of State Comptroller disputed 7 of 8 findings; she acknowledged two contract handling errors and described training and corrective steps.
Elena Clark, commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, appeared before the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Oversight to respond to the 2024 state auditor report that flagged various procurement procedures, including a sample of notices of intent (NOIs) designated as sole source.
Commissioner Clark said the Office of State Procurement Services (OSPS) processes more than $2.1 billion in state procurements annually and that the 2024 state auditor sample covered only 45 procurement actions with a combined value (after excluding a $5 million financial assistance/grant item) of approximately $2.3 million — a small fraction of total OSPS activity. She said many of the 16 NOI items cited in the audit were multiyear contracts rolling into a new fiscal year (no new PJFs required), grants or legitimate single‑source procurements where statutory waivers apply.
Clark acknowledged two areas where OSPS agreed corrective action was appropriate: one contract had an invoice paid before the contract signature and one IT contract lacked documented preapproval. She said OSPS trained staff and reviewed procedures to prevent recurrence and that many disputed findings were matters of interpretation of internal review dates and legacy paper‑based processes.
Quote: “We support independent audits and take each finding seriously,” Clark said. “In our review, many of the flagged NOIs were either legitimate sole‑source circumstances or year‑end rollovers, and the controller endorsed our responses to the audit.”
Ending: Commissioner Clark said she will provide the committee written responses and documentation; the committee had previously tasked OPEGA with a review of the 16 contracts and will permit that office to continue its work, per earlier motions.
