OKLAHOMA CITY — State Auditor & Inspector Cindy Byrd disclosed big spending discrepancies within the annual Federal Single Audit in an Aug. 27 press conference inside the Oklahoma State Capitol, focused on Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES).
WATCH: Auditor: 'Alarming' mismanagement of funds at two agencies
The Federal Single Audit tracks how responsibly Oklahoma agencies spend federal grant money.
In the post-COVID era, Oklahoma agencies have misappropriated more than $186.4 million, Byrd announced. This year's audit was done on Fiscal Year 2023, in which state agencies reportedly accumulated $93.4 million in questioned costs, more than in FY2020 through FY2022 combined.
- Previous coverage >>> State Auditor releases part of audit into Oklahoma Mental Health Department
Before the pandemic, Oklahoma received about $7 billion from the federal government. That funding almost doubled in the onset of the national emergency, yet the resources tracking through the auditor's office remained the same, Byrd said.
"Every dollar that's spent is a tax dollar," the state auditor said at the conclusion of a slide show she presented to local media. "And it is sent to deliver services to the people. And I just presented two agencies where the tax dollars that they spent did not deliver services."
The audit reported $93.4 million in FY2023 questioned costs (meaning costs that the federal government can order the state to pay back).
Of that total, more than $63 million in unfounded spending came from DHS largely involving childcare, and almost $22 million in mismanagement OMES, which largely involved rental assistance grants.
Byrd said although both agencies now have new leadership, potential crimes of those who were in charge will eventually be brought to prosecutors to review.
"It's important that we just continue to ask and find out where this next audit is going to lead us, and to demand answers," Byrd answered to a question asked by 2 News.
According to the audit, all other state agencies only spent a grand total of $8 million in questioned costs.
"Pre-COVID we were reporting around $5 million a year in questioned costs," Byrd added. "This year we're at $93 million. I would just leave it at I'm alarmed by this number, and we need to do better."
Byrd also told 2 News that despite being a small-government conservative, she believes her office needs more resources to fully tackle the problems within state agencies and their finances.
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