§ 147‑64.6J.  Annual performance audit of the Department of Transportation.

(a) Beginning the 2019‑2020 fiscal year, the Office of the State Auditor shall conduct a performance audit of the Department of Transportation every year. The performance audit shall include an examination of the following:

(1) Budget adherence by department, division, and highway division.

(2) Timeliness of federal reimbursement requests and timeliness of the Department's responses to any federal requests for additional information or action.

(3) Department controls and oversight of divisions and highway divisions as to cash management, project coordination and delivery, and budget adherence.

(4) Efficacy of communication and coordination within the Department.

(5) Efficacy of cash management by the Department.

(6) Other items the State Auditor deems relevant to study, including implementation of the provisions of this act.

(b) The State Auditor shall submit a report of the performance audit to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee, and the Fiscal Research Division. The Department of Transportation shall give the State Auditor full access to all employees and data necessary to complete the audit and the report. The State Auditor shall submit the annual report required by this subsection by the fifteenth day of January beginning in 2021. (2020‑91, s. 5.9.)