Status of Open Audit
Recommendations as of
June 30, 2025
An update by the City Auditor
Issued September 2025
http://www.sanjoseca.gov/auditor
September 23, 2025, City Council item 3.3
Presented by:
Joe Rois, City Auditor
Michelle Mallari, Program Performance Auditor Office of the City Auditor, 1
Office of the City Auditor, 2
151 Recommendations
6 new recommendations made since last update
42 implemented or closed since last update
85 partly implemented, 24 not implemented
85% implemented / closed over the last 10 years
Summary of Results
Departments Implemented 42 Recommendations
Highlights of implemented recommendations in this period:
Finance Department: Determined the proper accounting treatment of fee revenues for work-in-progress and updated the City’s encumbrance policy. Police Department: Finalized a Community Engagement Plan and updated its Duty Manual to clarify responsibilities around gun violence restraining orders. Department of Transportation: Developed new performance measures to assess progress on tree planting goals.
City Manager’s Office of Communications: The City’s Language Access Manager began site visits of City facilities to assess language accessibility and developed standard operating procedures for monitoring language accessibility.
Office of the City Auditor, 3
Departments Implemented 42 Recommendations
Highlights of implemented recommendations in this period (continued):
Public Works: Animal Care & Services (ACS) implemented multiple recommendations from the 2024 audit of ACS, including formalizing protocols for different aspects of operations.
Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services: Created a tool to compare BeautifySJ blight reduction and beautification service delivery to the Healthy Places Index to support equitable service delivery.
Open Government: The Administration clarified guidelines around disclosures of public subsidies and updated City policies around the retention and disposition of electronic records.
Office of the City Auditor, 4
T welve Priority Recommendations
Potential Budget Savings /
Revenue Generation:
Improve overtime controls in the Police
Department (Police Staffing, Expenditures, and
Workload, 2021)
Add Community Service Officers to address
lower priority Police calls (Police Staffing,
Expenditures, and Workload, 2021)
Outreach on the Massage Ordinance and notify
massage businesses when their permit is about
to expire (Code Enforcement Management
Controls, 2021) – New priority added
Operational Efficiency:
Identify vacant lands within the City’s real estate
portfolio and report on their intended use
annually (Real Estate Services, 2021) – New
priority added
Finalize and publish guidelines about the City’s
CEQA requirements and process for
environmental consultants (Environmental
Review for New Developments, 2022) – New
priority added
Contract with outside service providers for spay
and neuter services (Animal Care and Services,
2024) – New priority added
Office of the City Auditor, 5
T welve Priority Recommendations (…continued)
Citywide Security / Risk Mitigation:
Develop Citywide administrative guidelines or
procedures for managing federal grants (Citywide
Grant Management, 2022)
Update the Emergency Operations Plan to
segregate duties and formalize procurement tools
(COVID-19 Food Distribution Expenditures,
2022)
Improve the accuracy and usefulness of reporting
tools for encumbrances (Encumbrances, 2024)
Improved Service Delivery:
Increase language translations of vital documents
and include translation options on SJpermits.org
(Residential Building Permits, 2023)
Update Animal Care and Services’ manual to align
with Association of Shelter Veterinarians
Guidelines (Animal Care and Services, 2024)
Incorporate all languages spoken by 5 percent or
more of the population into the SJ311 website
and mobile application. (Access and Use of
Neighborhood Blight Programs, 2024) – New
priority added
Office of the City Auditor, 6
Office of the City Auditor, 7
https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/appointees/city- auditor/audit-recommendations
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