State auditor releases report, determines OMES lacks oversight and violated Oklahoma law
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OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — On Tuesday, Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector (SAI) Cindy Byrd released the an audit for FY 2022, and determined that the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) has not been acting in the best interest of taxpayers.
The Federal Single Audit of expenditures made during FY 2022 includes findings that show OMES has violated the Oklahoma Central Purchasing Act—a statute that requires the office to conduct a competitive bidding process with potential vendors.
The bidding process is intended to ensure that vendors are providing the state, and cities and counties within the state, with the highest quality services for the best possible price.
According to Byrd, OMES violated this statute by awarding no-bid contracts at a set cost to contracts instead of following the bid process to secure the best service at the best cost.
OMES also reportedly violated Oklahoma law by issuing payment to contractors before verifying any work had been completed. Byrd also says that, in some instances, they were unable to determine if the work had been performed for vendor contracts that had been paid for.
Byrd reached the following conclusion as a result of the findings from the audit:
In my opinion, Oklahoma is rapidly becoming a no-bid state. This is a grave disservice to every Oklahoman. The ‘Rolling Solicitation’ design allows for circumvention of financial safeguards and could place potentially better State vendors at an unfair disadvantage.
The Office of State Auditor has learned through its audit that questionable conduct has led to an abuse of taxpayer dollars and I am sounding the alarm. I am also respectfully asking the Legislature to take the following three steps to protect the taxpayers of Oklahoma:
-Investigate the ‘Rolling Solicitation’ process employed by OMES.
-Investigate the revenue stream associated with the ‘Rolling Solicitation’ process and determine if this has created an incentive for not complying with sound competitive bidding procedures.
-Review the growing list of exemptions to competitive bidding laws that do not protect taxpayer dollars.
The State is 100% responsible for following federal guidelines and ensuring any recipients or subrecipients comply with the terms of Federal grants. Oklahoma taxpayers could be forced to return millions of dollars to the Federal government.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond issued a statement calling for the resignation of Secretary of Tourism Shelley Zumwalt following the audit’s release.
The audit findings released today show troubling and all too familiar patterns of mismanagement, costing taxpayers millions as a result. Today’s report confirms my previous order of an investigative audit of OMES, which is sorely needed and long overdue.
One of the most egregious findings is the wholly inappropriate and potentially unlawful actions of Secretary Shelley Zumwalt, who used her position as executive director of OESC to approve millions of dollars in contracts for a software company where her husband was a vice president. This level of self-dealing represents an unforgiveable breach of trust that disqualifies Ms. Zumwalt from overseeing the expenditure of our tax dollars. She should resign immediately and cooperate fully with my office as I seek to determine whether any Oklahoma statutes were violated.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond
The full audit can be viewed here.
Zumwalt sent this statement late Tuesday afternoon.
“The Auditor’s report is misleading. I’ve never had a conversation with Auditor Byrd or her team regarding this matter. A thorough review of this situation would have easily cleared up any confusion on the many sign-offs and disclosures that happened well before I was named executive director of OESC. Transparency has always been a top priority of mine, and I will not be resigning.”
Shelley Zumwalt, Secretary of Tourism, Wildlife & Heritage
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