Audit: California departments break law, game personnel system for money

Sacramento Bee ^ | 4-10-15 | Jon Ortiz and Jim Miller

[WonkyTonky]

The report released Friday on the Department of Finance’s website did not include an estimate of how much money departments hoard by breaking the law, but it confirms a 2014 Sacramento Bee investigation that concluded tens of millions of tax dollars earmarked to pay workers is hoarded and funneled to other purposes.

By law, departments are supposed to forfeit money for a position that goes unfilled for six months, returning it to its source fund for reallocation. But as The Bee’s report and the new state audit found, departments deceptively move employees between jobs ahead of the six-month deadline. They accomplish the phony transfers by altering the identifying job numbers to make it appear that a position was filled with a transferred employee, thus avoiding a cut to their budgets.

The unspent salary can then be used for other operating costs, such as paying off leave balances, covering office rent, purchasing new equipment or funding employee raises. The Bee found instances of employees “transferring” between positions in as little as two days. In one instance, a Department of Food and Agriculture worker moved 14 times through nine positions in one fiscal year. Her title and workplace never changed, but the serial numbers the state used to identify her position changed repeatedly.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/investigations/the-public-eye/article18239552.html#storylink=cpy

[WonkyTonky]

I remember Ronald Reagan saying that the salary of heads of government departments is tied to how many employees they have under them, sounds like this is still going on as well as them using salary money for other expenses

[WKUHilltopper]

Laws are only for the servile suckers...not for government.

[dp0622]

There are no honest men left in government it seems. Save Ted Cruz I hope. Men are inclined towards evil in this government of ours. They have left the cupboards bare and I curse their children and children’s children
OK, a little dramatic, but you get my point!

[dhs12345]

Here in Colorado, we have TABOR (TAxpayers Bill Of Rights). It requires that all excess revenues be returned to the taxpayers. It also limits government growth.

The bureaucrats hate it with a passion and are always trying to undermine it. What to see a Democrat politician's face turn red — mention TABOR.

As usual, they want free and unrestricted access to all revenues and with no accountability.

A few years ago, the voters approved the lottery with the promise that all revenues would go to the parks. The slimy bureaucrats tried to use the funds for other things and we had a follow up ballot issue that reiterated that the funds were indeed supposed to go to the parks. We have some of the nicest parks and bike trails.