Skip to main content
RedRocksSlid
About Us
Learn more
We're Hiring Banner
​
Learn more
AZ flag
Recent Publications
Learn more

We Make a Positive Difference

We help government work better by analyzing governmental operations and recommending improvements. In fiscal year 2023, we issued:

185

Reports*

661

Recommendations

$1,744,074

Fraud uncovered

37

Felony charges

* reports include audits, reviews, investigations, alerts, and followups.

 

What's New

Arizona State Board of Nursing—Sunset Review

Board timely issued licenses/certificates in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, but continues to take more than 180 days to resolve complaints and its backlog of open complaints has grown, which may affect patient safety

Arizona Department of Child Safety—Investigations of Noncriminal Child Abuse and Neglect Reports

Department did not always inform individuals under noncriminal investigation of their rights and/or specific allegations against them in writing or timely complete and/or properly document some key investigative activities, which could negatively impact children and families

Arizona Barbering and Cosmetology Board—Sunset Review

Board timely issued initial and renewal licenses and resolved complaints, but did not take consistent enforcement action against licensees for violations, or verify that some license applicants met all requirements, potentially affecting public safety

Arizona Regulatory Board of Physician Assistants—Sunset Review

Board timely issued initial and renewal licenses, but did not timely resolve complaints, increasing the risk to public safety, and failed to establish oversight and accountability mechanisms for its staff, potentially resulting in inefficient and ineffective operations, noncompliance with Board statutes and policies, and waste of public resources

Tonto Basin Elementary School District

District did not comply with key requirements in financial and operational areas, including accounts payable, credit cards, cash handling, payroll, procurement, transportation, and information technology security. These deficiencies increased the District’s risk of errors, fraud, and improper payments and weakened the District’s ability to safeguard public resources.

Featured Reports

Arizona State House

COVID-19 Spending Reports

Followup—Arizona school districts’ and charter schools’, and ADE’s discretionary, COVID-19 federal relief spending—through June 30, 2022...

View Report

Arizona Auditor General Special COVID-19 Funding Report, November 2022...

View Report

Arizona State House

School District Financial Risk Analysis

As of January 2025, 2 Arizona school districts, Antelope Union High School District (UHSD) and Isaac Elementary School District (ESD), continue to be at higher financial risk than other Arizona school districts based on our analysis of 10 financial risk measures. Both highest-risk districts are experiencing risk related to operating and/or capital budget limit reserves, all 3 General Fund measures, and receivership.

View Report

Arizona State House

School District Spending Report

In FY 2024, dollars spent on instruction and total per student spending increased from the prior year, but the State-wide instructional spending percentage (ISP) decreased by 0.8 percentage points to 52.6%. For the second consecutive year, this is the lowest ISP since we began monitoring it in FY 2001. The State’s average teacher salary increased to $65,113—a 34.6% increase since FY 2017. Additionally, we report trends in the number of students enrolled in districts, which affects their available funding.

View Report