2011-01-AU Limited Scope Performance Audit of the Department of Parks and Recreation’s Facilities Asset Management

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Chapter 3: OPERATIONS particular issue that has been prioritized prior to the process and has already made it onto the CIP consideration list." If the Work Order Process requires that certain repair requests be transferred from the Parks Maintenance Division to the Park Planning Division based on estimated repair costs, complexity of repair, or lack of in-house expertise, then monitoring controls need to be implemented to ensure that the work order will be prioritized and completed within the current CIP Budget, or prioritized and submitted for completion in the next fiscal year's CIP Budget. Having a common database for all necessary maintenance and repair requests — whether periodic or preventative maintenance, emergency repair, or major rehabilitation — would facilitate prioritization, ranking, planning, budgeting, scheduling, monitoring, and reporting of work orders. As recommended in the State of Idaho's "Best Practices Maintenance Plan for School Buildings" (September 2006): "Involve appropriate maintenance personnel in decision marking and in communicating buildings' needs." The Parks Maintenance Division advises that it communicates with the P&R Administration and Park Planning Division during the annual departmental budget process. However, the number of documented, but uncorrected critical repair issues indicates a breakdown in the ability of existing processes and systems to ensure timely identification, communication, prioritization, budgeting, and correction of critical maintenance and repair issues. Another example of the breakdown or disconnect in P&R's current systems regarding repair and maintenance is found when reviewing the Quarterly and Annual Recreational Facility Reports completed by the Recreation Division's facility and program staff. In their quarterly and annual reports, Recreation Division personnel submit information regarding needed maintenance and repair at their respective facilities and any negative impacts of facility conditions on their ability to provide programs and services to their respective communities. The Quarterly and Annual Recreational Facility Reports are routed to P&R administrators, but are not integrated into corrective work or remediation plans or into the Department's Operating or CIP Budgets. A review of Quarterly and Annual Recreational Facility Reports dating back several years indicate that although consistently reported, critical repair problems at certain facilities — such as termite infestation and leaking roofs — continue to go unaddressed. It should also be noted that although these deficiencies still exist, the Department's proposed Operating Budget for FY2011- 2012 includes zero dollars in the "fumigation" and "roof and gutters" categories for Miscellaneous Contract Services. P&R DEPARTMENT LACKS ASSET MANAGEMENT PLAN TO GUIDE PARKS MAINTENANCE DIVISION Lack of an asset management plan makes it difficult for the Parks Maintenance Division to carry out its daily, monthly, semi-annual, and annual maintenance and repair duties. In an email response dated April 7, 2011 to our request for documentation of the Department's asset management policies, the Department stated that it does not have a comprehensive policies manual or similar document that establishes a formal asset management policy. The email goes on to explain that the Department and its Divisions determine their individual and collective asset management policies through informal processes involving the P&R Administration, its Division and Section Heads, employee feedback, the Mayor's Office, the County Council, public input, and other sources. The fact that the Department has not expended all of its maintenance and repair funds appropriated and allocated over several fiscal years, when critical repair issues have been documented, indicates that its current planning and budgeting processes are not adequate to support its needs in managing facilities. The Department's current planning and 18