Today, the City Auditor’s Office released an audit assessing governance practices of city boards and commissions.
Governance deals with what an organization should do and focuses on planning, setting goals and objectives, and developing policies to guide the organization and monitor its progress. Boards and commissions oversee many important functions and activities in Kansas City, such as, maintenance of parks and recreation activities, the delivery of police services, and the use of development incentives. In 2018, the 15 city boards and commissions the City Auditor’s Office surveyed spent almost $590 million.
As part of this audit, which is required every four years, the Auditor’s Office sends a governance checklist to governing or policy boards of the city. The checklist asks questions about six core governance functions and the audit report summarizes the boards’ and commissions’ responses about their governance practices. In general, those responses identified some strengths as well as areas for improvement.
The checklist is a tool that boards and commission should use to assess their governance practices. Because boards and commissions are not directly accountable to the public for their actions, the Mayor and City Council can use the audit report and the checklists as tools or a framework to ask city boards and commissions questions about their governance practices.
To view the report, go to https://www.kcmo.gov/city-hall/departments/city-auditor-s-office and search forever, or CLICK HERE.
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