Sincerely,
Janice mueller
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
December 22, 2005
The Honorable, The Legislature:
As requested, we have performed a preliminary review of the Department of Revenue's (DOR's) administration of the sales and use taxes levied by 58 counties and 2 professional sports districts on the same goods and services that are subject to the State's 5.0 percent sales and use tax. In 2005, DOR expects to distribute more than $306 million to the local units of government that levy these taxes.
The Integrated Tax System (ITS) DOR implemented in December 2002 is used to process sales and use taxes and to calculate the counties' and districts' shares of reported sales and use taxes. DOR has faced many challenges in implementing ITS, including and initial processing backlog, various programming errors, and incorrect calculations. In 2003 and 2005, two major adjustments were made to recoup funds from counties that had been overpaid and to distribute additional funds to those that had been underpaid. In this review, we identified a new concern related to processing certain audit adjustments and other transactions that resulted in additional overpayments.
DOR has negotiated with the vendor that developed ITS for a limited amount of service to be provided at no additional cost to the State, including further system testing that is expected to be completed by March 31, 2006, after completion of a review of various system assurances that should have been, but were not, included in the original system design, the vendor is also expected to provide additional computer programming services.
To correct for the new error we identified and for other errors that have yet been corrected, DOR calculates that 33 counties are owed a total of 1.8 million, which it plans to pay along with sales and use tax distributions for December 2005. DOR also calculates that 25 counties and the tow professional sports districts were overpaid a total of $2.8 million. We believe it would be prudent to proceed cautiously on any overpayment collections until ITS testing is completed and confidence in he system can be assured. We recommend the Joint Legislative Audit Committee monitor efforts in this area and direct DOR to provide monthly status reports.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by DOR staff during our review.
Sincerely,
Janice MUEller
State Auditor
__________________
The committee on Health, Children, Families, Aging and Long Term Care reports and recommends:
Senate Bill 405
Relating to: powers of the Pharmacy Examining Board during times of emergency or disaster.
Introduction and adoption of Senate Amendment 1.
Ayes, 5 - Senators
Roessler, Darling, Brown, Erpenbach and Carpenter.
Noes, 0 - None.
Passage as amended.
Ayes, 5 - Senators
Roessler, Darling, Brown, Erpenbach and Carpenter.
Noes, 0 - None.
Carol Roessler
Chairperson
S514
The committee on
Judiciary, Corrections and Privacy reports and recommends:
Senate Bill 450
Relating to: construction liens, requirements for securing payment for work on publicly financed projects, and providing a penalty.
Passage.
Ayes, 3 - Senators
Zien, Roessler and Grothman.
Noes, 2 - Senators
Taylor and Risser.
David Zien
Chairperson
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services
December 16, 2005
The Honorable, The Legislature:
Section
46.03(26) of the statutes requires the Department of Health and Family Services to report annually on information systems projects under development including the implementation schedule, estimate of costs, and methods of determining changes (if applicable).
The Department has two groups of systems now under development: Public Health Information Network (PHIN) and Health Alert Network (HAN) / National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS); and the Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) and related subsystems. The required information is included in the attached reports.
Sincerely,
HELENE NELSON
Secretary
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services
December 16, 2005
The Honorable, The Legislature:
Enclosed is the 2004/2005 annual report of the Wisconsin Council on Physical Disabilities. Preparation and distribution of the report is required by section 46.29(1)(f) of the state statutes.
Enhancing employment and housing opportunities and strengthening transportation and health services for people with disabilities are important goals for Wisconsin. Funding fragmentation, disjointed service delivery, lack of incentives to save and work, and a weak information distribution network serve as barriers to these goals. The Wisconsin Council on Physical Disabilities made progress in addressing a number of these barriers this past year and plans to work aggressively in the balance of FY06 to achieve improvements in housing, transportation, long-term support, and emergency preparedness. All of these efforts are resulting in change, collaboration and positive outcomes for Wisconsin's citizens with physical disabilities.
If you have questions about the report, please contact Sarah Lincoln at 608/266-7974.
Sincerely,
HELENE NELSON
Secretary
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services
December 23, 2005
The Honorable, The Legislature:
This letter provides a report on the status of hunger prevention strategies in Wisconsin, as required by s.46.76(4) and (5). I am pleased to report that, under the leadership of the Department and the UW-Extension, in 2005 the Wisconsin Food Security Consortium has been re-activated and once again begun meeting on a monthly basis to develop a coordinated approach to address the problems of hunger and food insecurity in Wisconsin. The Consortium is a partnership of government, business, community and university representatives who serve in an advisory capacity to DHFS. Prior to this year, the Consortium had been inactive since 2002. The Department expects that the expertise of the Consortium will be of great benefit to Wisconsin in devising strategies to deal with the problems of hunger and food insecurity.
The Consortium is guided by the definition of food security proposed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which defines food security as the ability of an entire population to have physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet its dietary needs for a productive and healthy life. Compared to other states, Wisconsin has a relatively low rate of food insecurity, but the problem is growing. In 1999-2001, 8.4% of the population was food insecure and that number increased to 9% in 2002-04. Food insecurity is clearly linked to income and efforts to improve the income level of Wisconsin citizens will benefit the state in many ways. However, the extent of food insecurity is the result of many factors besides income levels. The reduction of hunger in Wisconsin requires a cooperative partnership of federal, state, community, business, university, and individual resources.
Recognizing that creating food secure communities for people in Wisconsin goes beyond providing access to emergency food through food pantries, the Consortium is seeking to establish ways to increase access to food through normal channels. This undertaking involves the coordination and best use of existing resources, including federal food programs, supplemental food programs, food production and marketing, education and public awareness, community infrastructure, economic and job security, and research and evaluation.
In the coming year the Consortium will focus on developing a state plan to combat hunger and food insecurity in Wisconsin. The Consortium is reviewing plans completed by other states and will be examining programs that have worked in Wisconsin and in other areas of the country. One of the tasks which the Consortium has undertaken is to improve the coordination of services among the different parties that have an interest in reducing food insecurity in Wisconsin.
The Consortium is also working to increase participation by local communities. There are approximately 30 local Hunger Prevention Task Forces. The Consortium needs participation from local communities to be successful and it is pursuing ways that information can be shared between the Consortium and local organizations. Among other activities, the Consortium will be exploring ways to increase outreach regarding hunger prevention programs so that all Wisconsin residents are aware of what is available to them.
The Department, with the assistance of the Food Security Consortium, will continue to work with our partners in the public and private sector to develop strategies on this critical issue of improving food security in Wisconsin.
Sincerely,
HELENE NELSON
Secretary
Department of Revenue
December 27, 2005
The Honorable, The Senate:
Section
565.45, Wisconsin Statutes, requires the Department of Revenue to submit a biennial report to the legislature regarding the impact on lottery operations of the 10% expense limitation under s.
25.75(3)(b).
Defining the Expenditure Limitation for Lottery Operations
Section
25.75(3)(b), Wisconsin Statutes, requires that expenses for the operation and administration of the lottery not exceed 10% of gross lottery revenues unless approved by the Joint Committee on Finance under s.
13.10
Gross lottery revenues include gross revenues from the sale of lottery tickets and lottery shares under ch.
565 and retailer application fees imposed under s.
565.10(8).
Expenses include:
1.
amortization of capital expenditures;
2.
payments to vendors under s.
565.25(2)(a) for on-line and instant services and supplies;
3.
operating expenses of the Department of Revenue under s.
20.566(2)(r)
Expenses exclude Department of Justice law enforcement expenses appropriated under
Lottery General Program Operations
The accompanying chart illustrates administrative expenses, gross lottery revenues and the percentage of expenses of gross lottery revenues for Fiscal Years 2002 through 2005:
Chart On File with Senate Chief Clerk
Note
On-Line Telecommunication Charges dropped from $2.9 million in FY04 to $42,000 in FY05 as a result of a new gaming system software contract. Under the contract, the telecommunications system linking the gaming system with Lottery retailers is provided by the vendor. (Even though the contract provided for the telecommunications system, the new contract price was lower than the previous contract.)
