{"database": "mytown-research", "table": "audit_findings", "rows": [[22, "wa-sao", "1021104", "2016-001", null, "WA", "City of Orting", "City/Town", "0594", "5352005", "no_match", "Washington State Auditor's Office", "Accountability audit \u2014 City of Orting", "Accountability", 2016, "2014-01-01", "2016-12-31", "2018-05-07", "procurement", "material_weakness", null, null, "The City\u2019s internal controls over procurement were inadequate to ensure compliance with bid law", "Background \nState law requires the City to use formal competitive bidding procedures for \npurchases of $15,000 or more. This includes advertising the purchases\u2019 \nspecifications in a general circulation periodical, opening the bids at a public forum \nwith a fixed time and place, and awarding the contract to the lowest responsible \nbidder. In addition, the governing body must approve the winning bid. \nDescription of Condition \nIn 2016, the City purchased three trucks, one backhoe and a trailer totaling \n$269,637. In 2017, the City purchased a generator and a backhoe totaling $183,398. \nEach of these purchases exceeded $15,000. Our audit identified the following \nconcerns: \n\u2022 For most of the purchases, the City used a vendor roster to identify potential \nvendors and then completed an online search to identify the lowest price. \nThe City should have advertised to solicit sealed bids to be opened at a \npublic forum. \n\u2022 A backhoe was purchased through a procurement services vendor that did \nnot advertise to solicit bids, thereby not allowing the opportunity for all \npotential vendors to submit bids as state law requires. \nCause of Condition \nCity management were not aware of the competitive bid requirements for purchases \nof $15,000 or more. \nEffect of Condition \nThe City cannot demonstrate it received the lowest price for these purchases or that \nall vendors were given equal opportunity to bid. \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 6 \nRecommendation \nWe recommend the City implement adequate internal controls over procurement to \nensure compliance with state laws and ensure an open, competitive environment \nfor all purchases. \nCity \u2019s Response \nThe City erred in its procurement process as outlined by the Auditor in the \nAccountability Audit. The city staff have since received training on State \nprocurement requirements, passed a Purchasing Policy in January 2018, and put \nin place a more controlled procurement process that is in conformance with State \nLaw.\n \nAuditor\u2019s Remarks \nWe appreciate the timely actions taken by City staff during the audit to get \nunderstanding of procurement requirements. \nCity staff were very helpful during the audit process. We will review these changes \nduring our next audit. \nApplicable Laws and Regulatio ns \nRCW 35.23.352 \nPublic works \u2013 Contracts \u2013 Bids \u2013 Small works roster \u2013 Purchasing \nrequirements, recycled or reused materials or products.\n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 7 \nRELATED REPORTS \nFinancial \nOur opinion on the City\u2019s financial statements is provided in a separate report, which includes the \nCity\u2019s financial statements. That report is available on our website, \nhttp://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch. \nThat report includes a finding for a material weakness in internal controls over financial reporting. \n \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 8 \nINFORMATION ABOUT THE CITY \nThe City of Orting serves 7,600 citizens in Pierce County. It is administered by a mayor -council \nform of government. The City has seven elected Council Members and an independently elected \nMayor. The City Council appoints an Administrator to oversee the City\u2019s daily operations as well \nas its 33 employees. \nThe City provides services including water, sewer, stormwater, police protection, Municipal Court, \nparks and recreation, building permitting and land use, planning and economic development. For \nfiscal years 2014, 2015, and 2016, the City expended approximately $21.7 million, $10.9 million, \nand $10.1 million, respectively. \nContact information related to this report \nAddress: City of Orting \n110 E. Train \nP.O. Box 489 \nOrting, WA 98360 \nContact: Scott Larson, Treasurer \nTelephone: (360) 893-2219, ext. 111 \nWebsite: www.cityoforting.org \nInformation current as of report publish date. \n \nAudit history \nYou can find current and past audit reports for the City of Orting at \nhttp://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch. \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 9 \nABOUT THE STATE A UDITOR\u2019S OFFICE \nThe State Auditor's Office is established in the state's Constitution and is part of the executive \nbranch of state government. The State Auditor is elected by the citizens of Washington and serves \nfour-year terms. \nWe work with our audit clients and citizens to achieve our vision of government that works for \ncitizens, by helping governments work better, cost less, deliver higher value, and earn greater \npublic trust. \nIn fulfilling our mission to hold state and local governments accountable for the use of public \nresources, we also hold ourselves accountable by conti nually improving our audit quality and \noperational efficiency and developing highly engaged and committed employees. \nAs an elected agency, the State Auditor's Office has the independence necessary to objectively \nperform audits and investigations. Our audits are designed to comply with professional standards \nas well as to satisfy the requirements of federal, state, and local laws. \nOur audits look at financial information and compliance with state, federal and local laws on the \npart of all local governments, including schools, and all state agencies, including institutions of \nhigher education. In addition, we conduct performance audits of state agencies and local \ngovernments as well as fraud, state whistleblower and citizen hotline\n investigations. \nThe results of our work are widely distributed through a variety of reports, which are available on \nour website and through our free, electronic subscription service. \nWe take our role as partners in accountability seriously, and provide training and technical \nassistance to governments, and have an extensive quality assurance program. \nContact information for the State Auditor\u2019s Office \nPublic Records requests PublicRecords@sao.wa.gov \nMain telephone (360) 902-0370 \nToll-free Citizen Hotline (866) 902-3900 \nWebsite www.sao.wa.gov", "https://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch/Home/ViewReportFile?arn=1021104&isFinding=false&sp=false", "2026-07-30 13:24:54"]], "columns": ["rowid", "source", "report_number", "finding_number", "muni_id", "state", "entity_name", "entity_type", "entity_ext_id", "place_geoid", "match_method", "auditor", "report_title", "audit_type", "fiscal_year", "period_start", "period_end", "published_date", "finding_category", "severity", "questioned_cost", "cost_basis", "finding_title", "finding_text", "report_url", "fetched_at"], "primary_keys": ["rowid"], "primary_key_values": ["22"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 39.644001983106136, "source": "MyTown", "source_url": "https://mytown.theboringparts.com", "license": "CC BY 4.0", "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"}