An Audit Report on the Department of Public Safety's Implementation of the Driver Responsibility Program
July 2005
Report Number 05-040
Overall Conclusion
The Department of Public Safety (Department) has not fully implemented the Driver Responsibility Program (Program), which became effective on September 1, 2003. More than a year and a half after the Program's effective date, the Department is not assessing and billing all statutorily required surcharges outlined in Chapter 708 of the Texas Transportation Code. As of the end of February 2005, it had not assessed and billed at least $25 million.
Of the amount that had been assessed and billed as of the end of February 2005, only 20 percent had been collected. The Program was projected to have a collection rate of 66 percent for the first three years. However, the Department's fiscal analyses for the Program-related bills noted that the projected collection rate may have been overestimated because it was based on fees that were much lower than the proposed Program surcharges.
Minimal collection efforts have contributed to the lower-than-projected collection rate. Thirty-five percent of offender accounts are in compliance, meaning that these offenders have either paid in full or are current on their installment payments.
Because the Department lacks sufficient monitoring, it cannot provide assurance that the collections vendor has adequate collection and accounting processes and is depositing all the collected surcharges into the Treasury. We identified significant weaknesses in the vendor's collection and accounting processes that increase the risk of errors, theft, and fraud.
The Department is currently conducting a criminal investigation into allegations that some Program funds have been stolen. For the purposes of this report, the amounts allegedly stolen are not material when compared with the amount assessed and collected. However, this situation illustrates the risks created by the weaknesses in the vendor's operations.
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