REPORT DIGEST

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

COMPLIANCE EXAMINATION
FOR THE TWO YEARS ENDED JUNE 30, 2022

Release Date:  May 23, 2024

FINDINGS THIS AUDIT: 6

CATEGORY:  NEW -- REPEAT – TOTAL
Category 1:  0 -- 0 -- 0
Category 2:  1 -- 5 -- 6
Category 3:  0 -- 0 -- 0
TOTAL:  1 -- 5 -- 6

FINDINGS LAST AUDIT: 12

State of Illinois, Office of the Auditor
General
FRANK J. MAUTINO, AUDITOR GENERAL

To obtain a copy of the Report contact:
Office of the Auditor General, 400 West
Monroe, Suite 306, Springfield, IL
62704-9849
(217) 782-6046 or TTY (888) 261-2887

This Report Digest and Full Report are also
available on the worldwide web at
www.auditor.illinois.gov

INTRODUCTION

This digest covers our compliance
examination of the Department of
Transportation (Department) for the two
years ended June 30, 2022.  A separate
Financial Audit as of and for the year ended
June 30, 2022 was previously released on
April 13, 2023.  In total, this report
contains 6 findings, none of which were
reported in the financial audit.

SYNOPSIS

• (22-1) The Department did not maintain
documentation to substantiate the timely
inspections of bridges in its database.

• (22-2) The Department did not have
adequate controls over the administration of
State vehicles.

• (23-3) The Department did not comply with
State laws or its own written procedures
that control the outdoor advertising
adjacent to the primary and interstate
highways.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

FAILURE TO MAINTAIN AND ACCURATE INFORMATION
ON BRIDGE INSPECTIONS

The Department of Transportation
(Department) did not maintain documentation
to substantiate the timely inspections of
bridges in its database.

The Department is responsible for ensuring
that all highway bridges on public roads in
the State are inspected. The Department
conducts various types of bridge inspections
and we examined the timeliness of routine,
special, underwater, and fracture critical
member inspections.

Routine inspections

Using the intervals established by the
Department and allowing for the acceptable
tolerance per National Bridge Inspection
Standards (NBIS) regulations or whether
there was a legitimate reason for the
delinquency which was accepted by the
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
according to the Department’s Illinois
Structure Information System data, as of
July 1, 2022, 11 (0.05%) bridges were
untimely for a routine inspection (down from
152 as of July 1, 2020) and were 26 to 448
days late.

Special Inspections

Of the total 23,424 open bridges that the
Department is required to inspect or cause
to be inspected (i.e. locals) 1,615 bridges
were slated for a special inspection
totaling 2,594 special inspections during
the period of July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022.
Using the intervals established by the
Department and allowing for the acceptable
tolerance per NBIS regulations or whether
there was a legitimate reason for the
delinquency which was accepted by the FHWA,
according to the Department’s Illinois
Structure Information System data, as of
July 1, 2022, 44 (2%) bridges were untimely
for a special inspection (up from 14 bridges
as of July 1, 2020) and were 94 to 727 days
late.

Underwater Inspections

Of the total 23,424 open bridges that the
Department is required to inspect or cause
to be inspected, 342 were slated for an
underwater inspection during the period of
July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022. Using the
intervals established by the Department and
allowing for the acceptable tolerance per
NBIS regulations or whether there was a
legitimate reason for the delinquency which
was accepted by the FHWA, according to the
Department’s Illinois Structure Information
System data, as of July 1, 2022, 1 bridge
(0.3%) was untimely for an underwater
inspection (down from 4 as of July 1, 2020)
and was 166 days late.

Fracture Critical Inspections

Of the total 23,424 open bridges that the
Department is required to inspect or cause
to be inspected 567 were slated for a
fracture critical member inspection during
the period of July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022.

Using the intervals established by the
Department and allowing for the acceptable
tolerance per NBIS regulations or whether
there was a legitimate reason for the
delinquency which was accepted by the FHWA,
according to the Department’s Illinois
Structure Information System data, as of
July 1, 2022, 8 bridges (1%) were untimely
for a fracture critical inspection (down
from 9 as of July 1, 2020) and were 115 to
704 days late.

We recommended the Department ensure bridge
inspections are conducted and documentation
is maintained to substantiate the
inspections are completed within allowable
intervals established by Federal Regulations
and Department Policy. (Finding 1, pages
10-12). This finding has been reported since
2014.

Department officials accepted the
recommendation and stated they continue to
take actions to reduce the untimeliness of
bridge inspections.

INADEQUATE CONTROLS OVER THE ADMINISTRATION
OF STATE VEHICLES

The Department did not have adequate
controls ensuring the proper completion of
motor vehicle trip tickets, the maintenance
of State vehicles, the reporting of vehicle
accidents to the Department of Central
Management Services (CMS), calculating the
fringe benefits to employees for personal
use of assigned State vehicles, and ensuring
all employees assigned a State-owned vehicle
were duly licensed and insured.

During testing, some of the more significant
issues noted by the auditors are as follows:

• 2 of 60 (3%) vehicles tested had trip
tickets that did not contain a supervisory
approval.

• 1 of 60 (2%) vehicles tested were missing
vehicle trip tickets.

• 6 of 40 (15%) vehicles tested did not have
routine oil changes performed on a timely
basis. These vehicles were driven from 367
to 2,813 miles after an oil change was
required.

• For 7 of 60 (12%) employees personally
assigned a State vehicle, the Department had
incorrectly calculated employee fringe
benefits.  The Department overcharged two
employees a total of $9 and undercharged
five employees a total of $63.

• During testing of 40 reported accidents
involving State-owned vehicles, we noted the
following exceptions:

— 11 accidents were reported to CMS between
1 and 187 days late.
— For 7 accidents, Form SR-1 was completed
between 1 and 191 days late.
— For 2 accidents, Form SR-1 was not
appropriately dated.
— For 2 accidents, a description of the
accident was not properly completed on Form
SR-1.

•  4 of 60 (7%) employees personally
assigned a state vehicle failed to submit
the annual liability and licensure
certification. Additionally, we noted 1 of
40 (3%) employees submitted the
certification 62 days late.

We recommended the Department continue to
develop and implement procedures which
create stronger controls over its vehicles.
We recommended the procedures encompass the
responsibilities incumbent upon employees at
both the District and Central Office levels
if they utilize Department vehicles and
address compliance, recordkeeping,
maintenance, and accountability. We further
recommended the Department ensure employees
and individuals utilizing State vehicles are
properly trained on the related procedures,
rules, and regulations. (Finding 2, pages
13-15) This finding has been reported since
2007.

Department officials accepted the
recommendation and stated they plan to
continue to expand and improve fleet related
procedures.

FAILURE TO CONTROL OUTDOOR ADVERTISING

The Department did not comply with its State
laws or its own written procedures that
control the outdoor advertising adjacent to
the primary and interstate highways during
the engagement period.
We noted the Department had developed a
process to inventory outdoor advertising and
identify potentially illegal signs. The
department’s inventory of all active signs
as of October 5, 2022, totaled 12,804 signs.
Of the total active signs, 5,779 were
determined to be potentially illegal.

We selected a sample of 60 potentially
illegal signs for further testing and noted
the Department could not provide evidence
they notified the sign owners of
noncompliance, by certified mail, for 59 of
60 (98%) items tested. Of the 59 potentially
illegal signs without evidence of
notifications sent to sign owners the
Department noted:

• 29 signs were affected by the United
States Supreme Court’s decision in Reed V.
Town of Gilbert, 576 U.S. 155 (2015); thus
the Department did not deem enforcement of
compliance by the sign owners to be viable.

• 28 signs were potentially affected by
ongoing court cases during the examination
period; thus the Department withheld
determination of whether notification was
necessary.

• 2 signs were regulated by municipalities;
thus, the Department did not deem
enforcement of compliance by the sign owners
to be viable. (Finding 3, Pages 16-17). This
finding has been reported since 2016.

We recommended the Department notify the
sign owners of the signs determined to be
illegal based upon current statutory
guidance as required or seek appropriate
legislative remedy.

Department officials agreed with the
recommendation and stated they will take
action to address the issues.

OTHER FINDINGS

The remaining findings pertain to
noncompliance with reporting requirements,
weaknesses in cybersecurity programs and
practices, and system access weaknesses. We
will review the Agency’s progress towards
the implementation of our recommendations in
our next State compliance examination.

AUDITOR’S OPINION

The auditors stated the financial statements
of the Department as of and for the year
ended June 30, 2022, are fairly stated in
all material respects.

ACCOUNTANT’S OPINION

The accountants conducted a State compliance
examination of the Agency for the two years
ended June 30, 2022, as required by the
Illinois State Auditing Act.  The
accountants stated the Agency complied, in
all material respects, with the requirements
described in the report.

This State compliance examination was
conducted by CliftonLarsonAllen LLP.

JANE CLARK
Division Director

This report is transmitted in accordance
with Section 3-14 of the Illinois State
Auditing Act.

FRANK J. MAUTINO
Auditor General

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