Nine state agencies wasted at least $885,000 during the one-year period ending June 30, State Auditor Grant Parks reported October 1.
“Our investigations found waste, inefficiency, misuse of state resources, contracting violations, and other improper governmental activities,” Parks wrote. “Our findings include approximately $885,000 that state agencies have wasted, misused, did not collect, or spent on purchases that they did not properly advertise.”
The report, issued as the state is increasing taxes on software and voters are facing several tax hikes on the November ballot, indicates that the amount cited is likely only the tip of the iceberg.
“Under the authority of the California Whistleblower Protection Act, the California State Auditor’s Office conducted investigative work from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, on 1,721 allegations of improper governmental activity, some of which we received prior to this time period,” Parks wrote. “Some of these investigations substantiated improper activities, including waste, inefficiency, misuse of state resources, contracting violations, and other improprieties. We provide information in this report on only a selection of the cases we have investigated as a deterrent for state agencies and state employees so they can avoid similar improper governmental activities.”
The auditor found:
- The Department of Health Care Services did not reduce an employee’s leave balances for two instances of maternity leave, costing the state an estimated $86,000. “During our investigation, we found another employee whose leave balances it also did not reduce when she took maternity leave, and we found that the agency did not have adequate controls in place to reduce employees’ leave hours when they took such leaves of absence,” the auditor added.
- The State Controller’s Office violated state law by failing to collect accounts receivable for one of the Health Care Services employees, resulting in an unnecessary, year‑long delay in collecting more than $33,000 from both employees. Additionally, two employees at the State Controller’s Office teleworked from Idaho, Tennessee, and Alabama while they did not reside in California, contrary to state law.
- A California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection employee improperly used a state vehicle to commute to and from work for approximately five years, costing the state an estimated $42,000. The employee also improperly included commute time as time worked, costing the state an estimated $27,000 in salary paid for work not performed.
- A California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery employee violated the law and misused state funds by renting and driving vehicles for more than one year after her driver’s license had been suspended. As a result, the employee put the public at risk, and the state paid nearly $22,000 in expenses for rental vehicles and fuel that the employee incurred while she was not licensed to drive.
- A high‑ranking law enforcement officer misused access to a confidential law enforcement database by looking up information about himself, his family members, agency staff, and vehicles without a business purpose. “We are not naming the agency that is the subject of this report because doing so may identify or lead to the identification of the individuals mentioned in the report, which would violate state law,” the auditor wrote.
- A manager at the California Department of Education improperly facilitated the hire of an employee with whom she had a long-term friendship and, together with the employee, failed to satisfy the requirement that civil service appointments be made and accepted in good faith, which resulted in the appointment being unlawful.
- The California Department of Transportation’s Division of Equipment neither completed required written solicitations nor advertised for competitive pricing for nearly $624,000 worth of non-information technology goods in 2024, resulting in the agency’s failure to comply with state contracting requirements and its inability to ensure that it received the most competitive prices.
- The California Student Aid Commission selected the most expensive vendor for automated call services, expedited the contract just prior to the end of the fiscal year, and did not follow State Contracting Manual requirements to keep adequate documentation of its procurement process and contractor selection. “Consequently, it may not have received the best value on the contract,” the auditor noted.
The report includes summaries of the agencies’ responses to the findings.