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Audit finds more than $1 billion in deferred facility maintenance; city agrees to 10 recommendations
Summary
A city audit estimated the deferred maintenance backlog for city facilities exceeds $1 billion, urged an asset management plan and periodic condition assessments, and secured management agreement to implement the audit's 10 recommendations pending funding.
The City Auditor's performance audit of facility maintenance warned the council that chronic underfunding has left the city's portfolio of more than 1,600 facilities with substantial unmet maintenance needs. "We conservatively estimated that deferring maintenance for years has created a backlog of more than 1,000,000,000 in routine maintenance and repair needs," the audit team said during the presentation.
Auditors recommended setting a goal for annual percent of replacement value to be spent on maintenance (best practice: 2–4%), developing a multi‑year funding strategy, updating facility condition assessments at least every five years, and creating a facility management plan similar to the pavement management plan. The report estimated the city budgeted about 0.4% of replacement value for facilities in FY23, well below best practices. Management agreed with all ten recommendations but noted additional staff and funding will be required to implement them.
Department of General Services Director Ashura Little said an RFP for condition assessments is already advertised and could be awarded in spring, and that facilities has expanded use of its enterprise asset management system and preventative maintenance plans. Councilmembers pressed for a prioritization mechanism so limited funds focus on facilities serving communities of concern and asked for the condition‑assessment results and a proposed funding strategy to come back to committee.
