Toronto’s auditor says the city doesn’t know if people getting rent subsidies are actually eligible

Thestar.com
October 21, 2019
David Rider

Lax oversight of hundreds of millions of dollars distributed by the City of Toronto annually in rent subsidies is “incredibly troubling,” says Mayor John Tory who is promising to get the problem fixed.

“I know I speak for all Toronto residents in saying that I am absolutely shocked by the examples identified by the Auditor General that flagged potential ineligibility,” of people receiving subsidies to help house low-income Torontonians, Tory said in a statement Friday after release of an audit.

“These examples are deeply disappointing and frustrating to every hardworking Torontonian -- many who themselves are struggling with the high cost of housing.”

Auditor general Beverly Romeo-Beehler’s probe of the rent subsidy system revealed major oversight problems and evidence some households may be incorrectly receiving assistance or getting more funds than entitled.

Called rent-geared-to-income (RGI) subsidies, the payments are administered through social housing providers including Toronto Community Housing.

“Based on our file reviews, there was limited evidence to support that providers are exercising sufficient due diligence in verifying eligibility,” the auditor’s report says. “The City also does not maintain a centralized database or records of past and current RGI recipients.

“Consequently, at any given time, the City is spending nearly $385 million a year on subsidized housing without knowing who specifically is benefiting or whether they continue to be eligible to receive assistance.”

The report stressed that in a city where there is a long waiting list for subsidized housing, staff has a responsibility to ensure those who are most in need are being helped and that there is public confidence in the system.

During the first quarter of 2019 the number of active applications for households seeking subsidized housing in Toronto hit 102,049. Of that total more than a third of applications were identified as coming from seniors, according to a summary of what is known as the centralized wait-list and posted on the city’s website.

As part of 13 recommendations, the auditor has said the city should review all households flagged by her office for eligibility concerns -- including that around five per cent of the files they reviewed revealed documents that may have been falsified -- and to put in place a new and improved process for ongoing reviews as of March 31, 2020.

Ontario’s housing ministry, as part of a broader plan, has proposed replacing the existing RGI rules with a simple calculation based on income tax information.

Tory wrote a letter to audit committee chair Councillor Stephen Holyday urging him to order action when the audit, along with several others released Friday, go to committee next Friday.

“The Mayor and Deputy Mayor Holyday will be focusing City officials on fixing this issue immediately,” the statement from Tory’s office states.

Among findings of Romeo-Beehler’s other new audits:

Toronto city staff have not fully implemented any of the auditor general’s 2016 recommendations to make city computer systems less vulnerable to a hacker attack.
Romeo-Beehler issued a new and elevated warning that the systems, governing everything from recreation registrations to tax bills and emergency communications, remain inadequately protected.

City management reported completing only two of 10 recommendations she first issued after information technology security audits were done in 2016. But in fact, none are fully implemented.

“The Auditor General’s validation of the implementation of these recommendations found that they were not fully implemented,” because steps taken did not fully address “the issue or the intent of the recommendation,” the report states. “Since 2016 none of the recommendations have been implemented, which is concerning to the Auditor General.”

Romeo-Beehler revealed in a July report that two city agencies were “reportedly attacked by ransomware and their systems compromised. In both situations, the incidents were not communicated to the Chief Information Officer because protocols do not exist.”

The breaches did not infect the city’s main computer system, city officials said, but the auditor general said then the city needs to take urgent action to protect Toronto from data breaches and attacks including ransomware, where hackers digitally lock computer systems until a ransom is paid.

In July Lawrence Eta, then Toronto’s then-acting chief information officer, who has since been hired into the role, told the Star that Toronto is taking steps in an “ongoing battle” to protect its data.

That includes training city staff to not fall for “phishing” emails that give hackers access to the city, with test emails resulting in extra training if employees open them, and an ongoing process to hire Toronto’s first chief information security officer.

The city’s vehicle fleet is mismanaged in ways that, if corrected, could save taxpayers significant money.

The city’s fleet services division maintains almost 5,000 vehicles and other pieces of equipment worth about $330 million. Staff use the vehicles to pick up garbage, repair roads and infrastructure, maintain parks and recreational facilities, and more. Turnover is about 500 vehicles per year.

Delays in dropping off rented vehicles costs the city $79,000 a year. Also, the city is sometimes paying for repairs that should be covered under warranty. The auditor also flagged $2.8 million in repairs due to operator error or unreported accidents over 18 months.

Fleet vehicles are also used more than necessary, increasing the risk of failure and costly repairs, with $875,000 spent fixing 69 units in their final year of use. The audit recommends buying new units in a timely fashion to ensure replacements arrive when needed.

One potentially momentous audit on the agenda -- phase two of a probe of the TTC’s Presto fare card system -- remains under wraps but will be made public before next Friday’s audit meeting. Romeo-Beehler revealed last February the TTC lost at least $64 million to fare evasion and Presto malfunctions in 2018.