By Adam Pagnucco.
Montgomery County Inspector General Megan Davey Limarzi has released her office’s FY24 annual report. The report summarizes the activities of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) in the fiscal year ended June 30 and refers back to many of the office’s attention-getting reports. (They often draw loads of page views on this site.) One chart jumps out at me: the trend in complaints called into the OIG’s hotline, a principal means of intake for tips on the agencies under the OIG’s jurisdiction. Here it is, folks:
The report comments:
The OIG’s Hotline is one of the most important tools the office has to detect and investigate fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in county government, county funded programs, and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). The hotline serves as a vital outlet for the community; a way to voice their concerns and feel heard. OIG teammembers monitor the hotline daily to ensure that all complaints and tips are properly vetted and acted upon. In FY24 we received a record 430 complaints, 43% of which were related to MCPS.
The OIG is not a passive recipient of complaints as it has a substantial communications program to advertise its services. The office comments:
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The effectiveness of the OIG depends on engagement with our community. If residents, employees, contractors, and other stakeholders aren’t aware of our role in the county and the services we provide, our work will never be as impactful and relevant as it can be. That’s why, in addition to our hotline, we have invested a great deal in our outreach and communication activities including:
- Placing informational posters in county buildings and facilities, as well as all schools and MCPS’ central office
- Sending emails to all new county employees in their first week of service to educate them on the role of the OIG and how they can reach us
- Recognizing Fraud Awareness Month in November with a county-wide email banner
- Facilitating communications from the County Executive and Acting Superintendent encouraging employee cooperation with the OIG
- Updating our website to provide more usable information to those we serve
- Engaging with the public through social media
- Presenting at meetings and Council Audit Committee sessions to explain our processes, findings, and recommendations for improvements
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All of this has been backed up by enormous budget increases in recent years. The table below shows the OIG’s budget history since FY04. Over the last five years, it has indisputably been one of the fastest growing offices in county government.
Of special note is the OIG’s establishment of a new Education Oversight Division last year to investigate MCPS and Montgomery College. That division now has a chief and three investigators.
So does the recent explosion of complaints to the OIG indicate growing corruption in county government? I’m not convinced of that. What may be happening is that a combination of huge budget increases, an aggressive communications program and the expansion of the OIG’s authority to cover MCPS (first authorized in state legislation passed in 2020) is creating a positive feedback loop of more resources, more investigations and more complaints, each reinforcing the other. Certainly nothing in recent years tops the notorious Peter Bang scandal, in which an economic development employee stole nearly $7 million from the county from 2010 through 2016.
In any event, the fact that employees and the public are becoming increasingly willing to blow the whistle on scandals, resulting in publicly released investigations, is a sign of good health for government in Montgomery County.