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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 Regulatory Board of Physician Assistants—Performance Audit and 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

Arizona Barbering and Cosmetology Board—Performance Audit and 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

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.

Western Maricopa Education Center—Report 2 of 2

District spent approximately $200,000 on a sponsorship agreement and for entertainment, food, membership dues, and other events that do not appear to align with its primary responsibility of providing CTE programs, including some spending that may have violated the State’s gift clause

Arizona Department of Gaming, Racing Commission, and Boxing and MMA Commission—Sunset Review

Department distributed $158 million in tribal contributions in fiscal year 2024, consistent with statute, but did not consistently obtain and review third-party documentation to ensure event wagering and fantasy sports contest operators’ fee payments were accurate, risking lost State revenues, and Department, Racing Commission, and Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts Commission did not comply with some State conflict-of-interest requirements and recommended practices

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...

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

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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.

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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.

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