Reports

The Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES) administers Mississippi’s unemployment benefits programs. With the influx of jobless claims and COVID relief aid as a result of the pandemic, total unemployment benefit claims increased from $59.6 million in FY 2019 to $2.1 billion in FY 2020. With this infusion of money came massive fraud and misspending. For example, from FY 2020 to FY 2021, known overpayments increased from $118 million to $474 million. The massive loss of money from Mississippi’s unemployment fund is partially the result of MDES bypassing or altering their own...

This audit was conducted to evaluate CARES Act funds designated for City Council-approved small business recovery and housing relief programs. The Office found that Community relief programs were adequately designed to address the economic impact from the pandemic. Controls over the distribution and monitoring of some community recovery programs should be improved to prevent and detect misappropriations. Emergency relief programs can benefit from the lessons learned during these COVID-19 responses.

This audit was conducted to determine whether adequate controls have been established to ensure compliance with purchasing requirements, including the appropriate use of emergency purchase exceptions.

This audit was conducted to determine whether City Procurement’s monitoring controls for PCards are adequate, with a focus on COVID-19 related purchases.