JOSEPH M. FERGUSON INSPECTOR GENERAL
CITY OF CHICAGO OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL 740 NORTH SEDGWICK STREET, SUITE 200 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60654 TELEPHONE: (773) 478-7799 FAX: (773) 478-3949
AUGUST 5, 2021
TO THE MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, CITY CLERK, CITY TREASURER, AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO:
The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) has completed a second follow-up to its July 2019 audit ofthe Chicago Department of Transportation's (CDOT) billing process for commercial driveway permit annual fees. Based on the Department's responses, OIG concludes that CDOT has partially implemented corrective actions related to the audit findings.
The purpose of the 2019 audit was to determine whether CDOT accurately and completely billed commercial property owners for driveways that use the public way. Our audit found that the Department either did not bill, or inaccurately billed, an estimated 6,713 permitholders, resulting in an annual revenue loss between $1.1 and $1.5 million. In addition, CDOT had no confidence that its driveway permit system contains records of all relevant driveways. Finally, OIG found that the City did not actively pursue payment for past-due driveway permit fees.
Based on the results ofthe audit, OIG recommended several steps to correct data problems hampering CDOT's billing operations and to prevent such problems in the future. We also recommended that CDOT collaborate with other departments to include driveway permit fees in the City's standardized debt collection process. In its response to the audit, CDOT described corrective actions it would take.
In February 2020, OIG inquired about the status of corrective actions taken by CDOT in response to the audit and learned CDOT had created procedures to correct inaccurate driveway records and prevent future inaccuracies, developed and initiated a process to migrate data to the new Infor Public Sector (IPS) system, and documented standardized driveway permitting and billing p...
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