AUTHORS: Hilary Papineau, Rachael Southworth, Bob Mainello, Heather Pratt, Andre Spar, Theresa Nellis-Matson, Lisa Rooney, Marsha Daugherty, Jonathan Julca, Rachelle Goodine – Office of the New York State Comptroller, Division of State Government Accountability
ABSTRACT: The Office of the New York State Comptroller’s (OSC) Division of State Government Accountability (SGA) conducts performance audits of New York State and City entities to determine if taxpayer money is being used effectively and efficiently and to help improve government operations, programs, and financial management. SGA recognizes the value of using GIS to conduct spatial analysis and enhance its audit reports by highlighting risk in public programs and increasing the impact of its audits. This presentation discusses examples of SGA audits using spatial analysis in unconventional ways – analyzing relationships between traditionally unrelated data sets and identifying gaps in services across the State – with the end goal of strengthening public health and safety. For example, in an audit of the Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) entitled Registration and Enforcement of Automotive Services, Sales, and Salvage Facilities (Report 2016-S-71), SGA auditors identified locations where automotive businesses could potentially be operating without a valid registration by matching land use data from New York State tax parcels with DMV records. SGA’s audit of the Department of Environmental Conservation entitled Drug Management and Disposal (Report 2016-S-82) identified large areas of the State that were underserved by the program. SGA has found that the creative application of geospatial technology to diverse data sets allows public programs to more strategically and proactively focus their limited resources. We aim to engage organizations responsible for overseeing public programs in how GIS can be an innovative tool for evaluating the effectiveness of programs and improving government operations.
