The Rundown with Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit

The Legislature created the Industrial Revenue Bond (IRB) program in 1961 to promote economic development. Local governments issue IRBs to fund business facilities with the goals of growing the local economy and increasing property tax revenue. Businesses that use IRBs can get a 10-year property tax exemption (IRBX). During 2010-2024, local governments issued about $18.3 billion in industrial reve...

KSHSAA and 19 of the 20 school districts we reviewed had written policies that aligned with state law, and 16 of 20 districts said they would also allow participation in non-KSHSAA-regulated activities. The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) regulates 21 activities for 7th – 12th grades. State law requires school districts to allow eligible virtual and nonpublic-school studen...

Data limitations and federal laws prevented us from evaluating the accuracy of TANF benefit payments. The federal government does not require states to assess the accuracy of their TANF benefit payments. DCF has an employee performance review process that includes reviewing TANF payments for process and accuracy errors. However, the data DCF provided to us from that process is not sufficient or re...

The Kansas State Fire Marshal's Office (KSFM) is responsible for creating and enforcing regulations related to fire safety. KSFM's regulations adopt the 2006 edition of the International Code Council's International Fire Code, the 2006 edition of the National Fire Protection Association's Life Safety Code, and other similar standards. KSFM inspects residential facilities, inclu...

Temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) is a federal program that provides states with funding to serve low-income families. TANF cash assistance provides monthly funds to low-income families to pay for a variety of needs. To be eligible for TANF cash assistance applicants must meet several criteria. TANF applicants must complete multiple forms that include over 250 pieces of information. D...

Based on the limited information we could review, we identified an estimated $700,000 to $1.2 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits paid to recipients who may not live in Kansas in fiscal years 2023 and 2024. SNAP is a federal program that provides monthly funds to low-income families to buy food. There are a few common types of fraud schemes in the SNAP program incl...

Unintended preferences didn't appear to ultimately influence who was admitted to either the KSU College of Veterinary Medicine or the KU School of Medicine, but control weaknesses may have allowed preferences at certain points in the process. We looked for certain controls in CVM and SOM's admission processes to determine whether there were significant opportunities for preferential trea...

We completed 15 audits on 13 state agencies, 1 school district, and 1 city between CY 2024 and CY 2025. This summary report shows 7 of the 15 entities did not substantially comply with applicable IT security standards and best practices. Entities struggled with properly scanning and patching their computers. Entities also had compliance problems because they did not create, maintain, or test conti...

Real property taxes are taxes paid on land, minerals, and buildings. They're used to fund state and local governments. Most of the real property taxes collected fund local governments (99%) while the remainder fund state government (1%). However, state law exempts some real property, such as government owned property and property owned by non-profits from real property taxes. This means these...

DCF’s payment error rate exceeded federal standards in fiscal years 2023 and 2024 for multiple reasons including high staff turnover, the complexity of the SNAP eligibility rules, and inconsistent verification efforts. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federal program that provides monthly funds to low-income families to buy food. Individuals must submit an application and...

We estimate the 3 counties we reviewed spent $28.8 million providing a selection of 3 services in fiscal year 2024, which was partially offset by $9.7 million in state, federal, and user fee funding. State law requires counties to provide a variety of core services, such as election administration, law enforcement, and motor vehicle registration. Counties are primarily funded by local tax revenue,...

This audit evaluated whether entities implemented 9 previous audit recommendations. We determined that 4 of the 9 recommendations have been implemented. The 5 Groundwater Managmeent Districts implemented 1 recommendation from our 2023 audit. of them? The Departments of Revenue and Commerce implemented the recommendation from our 2023 audit of the Rural Opportunity Zones Program. The Secretary of S...

Of the 20 districts we reviewed, only some had adequate access controls for their accounting systems, and very few had adequate written policies. School districts use accounting systems to manage their expenses and report on their financial information. It’s critical that school districts protect their accounting systems against unauthorized access. School districts are not required to follow the...

The High Performance Incentive Program (HPIP) allows qualifying businesses to earn state income tax credits based on their expenditures on employee training and education and on qualifying capital investments. We couldn't report how much HPIP credit businesses earned and used in recent years because of reliability issues with KDOR's HPIP data. We identified inconsistencies in the data th...

This audit evaluated whether agencies implemented 6 previous audit recommendations. We determined that 3 of the 6 recommendations have been implemented. The Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) and Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) implemented 2 recommendations and partially implemented 2 other recommendations from our 2022 audit of foster care services. The Kansas...

The Building a Stronger Economy 1.0 and 2.0 grant programs (or BASE grant programs) awarded almost $150 million in federal funds to Kansas businesses for infrastructure development. The Department of Commerce selected which program applicants would be awarded funding. It required BASE grant recipients to provide matching funds equal to at least 25% of the project cost. We reviewed the planned matc...

The federal government reimburses school districts for meals they serve to students through the National School Lunch Program. Students receive a free or reduced-price lunch through the National School Lunch Program if they meet 1 of several criteria including participating in certain federal programs, being a migrant student, and having household income of 130% or less than the federal poverty li...

3 state agencies are responsible for taking and investigating allegations of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Those agencies are the Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS), the Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), and the Department of Children and Families (DCF). These agencies may refer alleged perpetrators to 3 state licensure boards: the Board of Healing Arts, the Board...

This limited-scope audit evaluated the outcomes of the Kansas Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) investigations and audits from calendar years 2021 through 2024, with a focus on financial recoveries and prosecutorial results. The OIG is an independent entity within the Kansas Attorney General’s Office and is tasked with increasing accountability and oversight of Kansas medical (and other) ass...

The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) oversees Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) services to help older adults and people with disabilities. Until 2024, KDADS contracted with Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) to provide ADRC services. In 2024, KDADS split the one AAA contract for ADRC services into 2 contracts, one for the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) as...

From 2021 – 2023, Manhattan, Overland Park, and Wichita appeared to use most of their transient guest tax revenue appropriately, but a small portion was inappropriate or unclear. Kansas statute allows cities and counties to charge guests at hotels or other short-term lodgings a tax (called a transient guest tax), which local governments can then use to fund tourism-related expenditures. Most citie...

The Department of Commerce evaluated BASE 1.0 grant program applicants using a standardized scoring rubric, but it didn’t consistently follow its process or document the Secretary’s final award decisions. The Building a Stronger Economy 1.0 grant program (or BASE 1.0) awarded almost $100 million in federal funds to Kansas entities for infrastructure development. Commerce received 445 BASE 1.0 gran...

The Kansas Office of Veterans Services allowed participating Veteran Service Organizations to take fundamentally different approaches in reporting VCAP matching obligations, which may or may not comply with state law. The state’s Veterans Claims Assistance Program (VCAP) is meant to provide claims assistance to veterans in Kansas through congressionally chartered veteran service organizations. The...

The Kansas Department of Transportation created the Cost Share Program in 2019 to help fund transportation projects in local communities. In Fall 2019, KDOT awarded $1.19 million in Cost Share Project funds to the City of Great Bend to reconstruct the historic dragstrip and shutdown area (this includes both the track and the portion of the racetrack after the finish line where cars slow down). The...