Latest Report on Government Accountability Hotline Released by Secretary of State Tobias Read

Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read released a report today summarizing the activities of the State Government Accountability Hotline in 2024. The hotline is a tool for state workers and members of the public to anonymously report suspected misuse of state funds or resources.

“Oregon taxpayers and people who rely on critical government services deserve to know that those resources are being appropriately used and accounted for,” said Secretary of State Tobias Read. “Audits are one key accountability tool, and this hotline is another. We need to use every tool at our disposal to make sure state government is providing high quality services to Oregonians.”

In 2024, reports to the hotline led to auditors identifying more than $12,000 in questioned costs. “Questioned costs” is an auditing term and refers to costs that may be inappropriate under statutes, regulations, or the terms of a grant agreement.

As of this release, two reports remain open and may result in management letters. These letters are another mechanism by which auditors identify control weaknesses or inefficiencies and offer recommendations on how to resolve them.

This annual summary report is required by statute to be submitted to the Legislature. The report includes information about the number, nature, and resolution of hotline calls received by the Audits Division throughout the year.

Studies show one of the best methods for identifying fraud is establishing a reporting hotline to receive tips. To this end, the Secretary of State Audits Division has operated the State Government Accountability Hotline since 1995.

The hotline fielded 200 reports in 2024. The outcome of these calls generally goes one of three ways:

• We investigate. These investigations may uncover ideas for improving efficiencies, which we’ll add to our risk assessment for potential future audits; be closed after our investigation finds the allegation unsubstantiated; or result in findings, such as questioned costs or management letters to the agency.
• There isn’t enough information included in the report. For instance, 16 reports were closed after the informant didn’t respond to our requests for additional information.
• The Audits Division lacks the appropriate authority to respond. This can happen when the allegation is about an entity outside of our jurisdiction, like a local government, or a topic that doesn’t fall under the umbrella of waste, fraud, or abuse, like personnel disputes better handled by human resources.

Occasionally, the hotline will receive a report that doesn’t necessarily concern fraud, waste, or abuse, but is still of interest to the other duties of the Secretary of State. For example, six calls were about election systems or voter fraud; these were referred to the Secretary of State Elections Division.

Read the full report on the Secretary of State website.