California parks department still needs to fix practices, audit says

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“An Ecosystem on the Brink,” a study by Heal the Bay, assesses the current condition of the 109-square-mile watershed and ways to reverse deterioration throughout the region, which winds its way through the southern edge of Ventura County, northwest Los Angeles County and eventually drains into Surfrider Beach in Malibu. Malibu Creek is pictured above.

The California parks department has failed to correct budgeting practices following last year’s accounting scandal, according to an audit report released Tuesday.

The Department of Parks and Recreation, which manages 280 parks statewide, has yet to establish a method to track individual park spending, and budgets are calculated too slowly for parks to effectively plan their spending, the audit found.

This was the second part of a review requested by California lawmakers after last summer’s scandal that revealed the department had a surplus of $54 million, but was planning to close parks due to a budget crisis. A subsequent investigation found that parks officials had deliberately hidden about $20 million.

Tuesday’s audit report also showed that more employees than were initially reported had received inappropriate reimbursements for unused vacation time. About $42,000 was paid to several employees in 2011 and 2012, in addition to a previously reported $271,000 paid to 56 employees. These payments were made without necessary approval, or did not follow state guidelines.

Although leadership has changed and the department has disciplined four managers involved in the payments since the scandal broke, the audit notes that the department “has not changed its processes or provided appropriate training to its staff.”

Parks spokeswoman Vicky Waters said Tuesday that the department plans to implement a new accounting system that will “restore trust and accountability to the department” by the end of the year.

“We have been working on this for a number of months,” she was quoted as saying in the Los Angeles Times. “We’re acting to make sure this does not happen again.”

State Parks oversees several properties within Malibu, including the Malibu Lagoon, Adamson House and Rindge Dam.