REPORT DIGEST

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

COMPLIANCE EXAMINATION
FOR THE TWO YEARS ENDED JUNE 30, 2024

Release Date:  January 29, 2026

FINDINGS THIS AUDIT: 9

CATEGORY:  NEW -- REPEAT – TOTAL
Category 1:  2 -- 0 -- 2
Category 2:  2 -- 5 -- 7
Category 3:  0 -- 0 -- 0
TOTAL:  4 -- 5 -- 9

FINDINGS LAST AUDIT: 6

State of Illinois, Office of the Auditor
General
FRANK J. MAUTINO, AUDITOR GENERAL

To obtain a copy of the Report contact:
Office of the Auditor General, 400 West
Monroe, Suite 306, Springfield, IL
62704-9849
(217) 782-6046 or TTY (888) 261-2887

This Report Digest and Full Report are also
available on the worldwide web at
www.auditor.illinois.gov

INTRODUCTION

This digest covers our compliance
examination of the Department of
Transportation (Department) for the two
years ended June 30, 2024.  A separate
Financial Audit as of and for the year
ended June 30, 2024 was previously released
on July 8, 2025.  In total, this report
contains 9 findings, 3 of which were
reported in the financial audit.

SYNOPSIS

• (24-4) The Department did not maintain
documentation to substantiate the timely
inspections of bridges in its database.

• (24-9) The Department did not timely
submit receipts for deposit into the
State’s treasury.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

FAILURE TO MAINTAIN TIMELY AND ACCURATE
INFORMATION ON BRIDGE INSPECTIONS

The Illinois Department of Transportation
(Department) did not maintain documentation
to substantiate the timely inspections of
bridges in its database.

The Department is responsible for ensuring
that all highway bridges on public roads in
the State are inspected. The Department
conducts various types of bridge
inspections and we examined the timeliness
of routine, special, underwater,
nonredundant steel tension member (NSTM),
and element level inspections.

Routine Inspections

Of the total 26,879 open bridges that the
Department is required to inspect or cause
to be inspected, 23,917 were slated for a
routine inspection during the period of
July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024. Using the
intervals established by the Department and
allowing for the acceptable tolerance per
National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS)
regulations or whether there was a
legitimate reason for the delinquency which
was accepted by the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA), according to the
Department’s Illinois Structure Information
System data, as of July 1, 2024, 166
(0.69%) bridges were untimely for a routine
inspection (up from 11 as of July 1, 2022)
and were 92 to 919 days late.

Special Inspections

Of the total 26,879 open bridges that the
Department is required to inspect or cause
to be inspected, 2,647 bridges were slated
for a special inspection during the period
of July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024. Using the
intervals established by the Department and
allowing for the acceptable tolerance per
NBIS regulations or whether there was a
legitimate reason for the delinquency which
was accepted by the FHWA, according to the
Department’s Illinois Structure Information
System data, as of July 1, 2024, 30 (1.13%)
bridges were untimely for a special
inspection (down from 44 bridges as of July
1, 2022) and were 96 to 736 days late.

Underwater Inspections

Of the total 26,879 open bridges that the
Department is required to inspect or cause
to be inspected, 335 were slated for an
underwater inspection during the period of
July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024. Using the
intervals established by the Department and
allowing for the acceptable tolerance per
NBIS regulations or whether there was a
legitimate reason for the delinquency which
was accepted by the FHWA, according to the
Department’s Illinois Structure Information
System data, as of July 1, 2024, 11 bridges
(3.28%) were untimely for an underwater
inspection (Up from 1 as of July 1, 2022)
and were 96 to 807 days late.

NSTM Inspections

Of the total 26,879 open bridges that the
Department is required to inspect or cause
to be inspected, 520 were slated for a NTSM
inspection during the period of July 1,
2022 to June 30, 2024. Using the intervals
established by the Department and allowing
for the acceptable tolerance per NBIS
regulations or whether there was a
legitimate reason for the delinquency which
was accepted by the FHWA, according to the
Department’s Illinois Structure Information
System data, as of July 1, 2024, 7 bridges
(1.35%) were untimely for a NSTM inspection
(down from 8 as of July 1, 2022) and were
131 to 704 days late.

Element Level Inspections

Of the total 26,879 open bridges that the
Department is required to inspect or cause
to be inspected, 8,646 were slated for an
element level inspection during the period
of July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024. Using the
intervals established by the Department and
allowing for the acceptable tolerance per
NBIS regulations or whether there was a
legitimate reason for the delinquency which
was accepted by the FHWA, according to the
Department’s Illinois Structure Information
System data, as of July 1, 2024, 12 bridges
(0.14%) were untimely for an element level
inspection and were 109 to 719 days late.
(Finding 4, pages 14-17). This finding has
been reported since 2014.

We recommended the Department ensure bridge
inspections are conducted and documentation
is maintained to substantiate the
inspections are completed within allowable
intervals established by Federal
Regulations and Department policy.

Department officials accepted the
recommendation and outlined a corrective
action plan.

RECEIPT PROCESSING WEAKNESS

The Department did not timely submit
receipts for deposit into the State’s
treasury.

Due to our ability to rely upon the
processing integrity of the Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) System operated by
the Department of Innovation and Technology
(DoIT), we were able to limit our receipt
testing at the Department to determine
whether certain key attributes were
properly entered by the Department’s staff
into the ERP System. In order to determine
the operating effectiveness of the
Department’s internal controls related to
receipt processing, we selected a sample of
key attributes (attributes) to determine if
the attributes were properly entered into
the ERP System based on supporting
documentation. The attributes tested were
(1) amount, (2) fund being deposited into,
(3) date of receipt, (4) date deposited,
and (5) SAMS Source Code.

During testing, we noted the Department
incorrectly utilized the fields for two of
these attributes.  The Department used the
date of receipt field to record the date of
deposit, and vice versa.

With consideration for these misapplied
attributes, we then conducted an analysis
of the Department’s receipts data,
consisting of 31,767 paper checks, for
fiscal years 2023 and 2024 to determine
compliance with the State Officers and
Employees Money Disposition Act (Act),
noting the following noncompliance:

• The Department did not deposit 140
(0.44%) receipt items, totaling $10,000 or
more, on the day received.

• The Department did not deposit 1,092 (3%)
receipt items, exceeding $500 but less than
$10,000, within 48 hours.

• The Department did not deposit 4,045
(13%) receipt items less than $500 on the
1st or 15th of the month, whichever was
earlier.

Because of the attribute issue noted above,
the timeliness of refund checks received
could not be tested using a data analysis.
We tested a sample of 40 refunds and did
not note any exceptions regarding
timeliness of deposit. (Finding 9, Pages
27-28).

We recommended the Department deposit
receipts within the timelines set by the
Act. We also recommended the Department use
the fields within the modules in accordance
with DoIT’s data dictionaries and other
guidance.

Department officials accepted the
recommendation and outlined a corrective
action plan.

OTHER FINDINGS

The remaining findings are purportedly
being given attention by Department
personnel.  We will review the Department’s
progress towards the implementation of our
recommendations in our next examination.

AUDITOR’S OPINION

The auditors stated the financial
statements of the Department as of and for
the year ended June 30, 2024, are fairly
stated in all material respects.

ACCOUNTANT’S OPINION

The accountants conducted a State
compliance examination of the Department
for the two years ended June 30, 2024, as
required by the Illinois State Auditing
Act. The accountants qualified their report
on State compliance for Finding 2024- 001
and Finding 2024-002. Except for the
noncompliance described in these findings,
the accountants stated the Department
complied, in all material respects, with
the requirements described in the report.

This State compliance examination was
conducted by CliftonLarsonAllen LLP.

COURTNEY DZIERWA
Division Director

This report is transmitted in accordance
with Section 3-14 of the Illinois State
Auditing Act.

FRANK J. MAUTINO
Auditor General

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