LEGISLATIVE BUDGET AND AUDIT COMMITTEE Division of Legislative Audit P.O. Box 113300 Juneau, AK 99811-3300 (907) 465-3830 FAX (907) 465-2347
[email protected] SUMMARY OF: A Special Report on the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and Department of Administration, Alaska Land Mobile Radio project, September 21, 2005. PURPOSE OF THE REPORT In accordance with Title 24 of the Alaska Statutes and a special request by the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee, we conducted a performance audit of the implementation of the Alaska land mobile radio (ALMR) project. Our review primarily involved the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) and the Department of Administration (DOA). REPORT CONCLUSIONS We were directed to review and assess various issues related to the implementation of the ALMR project. ALMR is a joint project among federal, state, and local governments. For its part, the State has not effectively or consistently managed the ALMR project. The State’s uncoordinated and inconsistent management of the project has contributed to the following deficiencies: Estimates of project costs appear unsupported and based on funding Loan proceeds were inappropriately used to finance purchases made by DOA Some costs and contracts were not consistent with funding conditions or the procurement code Operating site information is incomplete DOA did not specifically identify and allocate expenditures on a site-by-site basis There is insufficient data to estimate annual operating costs of the project There has been inadequate outreach and recruitment of potential ALMR users The scope of the project was changed without approval from the ALMR Executive Council In recent months, DMVA has made significant effort to improve the State’s oversight and control of the project.