Topline: The City of Austin’s fire department spent an all-time high on overtime pay in 2024 after years of audits and supervision from the City Council designed to reduce the spending.
Key facts: The Austin Fire Department’s overtime spending has been in the headlines since a 2017 audit found the department did “not appear to have proactively implemented adequate cost saving measures” before spending $21 million on overtime that year.
In 2023,...
Topline: The word “conservation” usually applies to wildlife or the environment, but in 2011, the federal government spent $113,277 on a conservation survey of 6,900 video games. The grant to the International Center for the History of Electronic Games would be worth $161,573 today.
That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these reports shined a white-hot spotlight on federal frauds and...
Topline: OpenTheBooks.com’s team of auditors has identified three professional societies whose taxpayer-funded grants and contracts should be reviewed from the Department of Government Efficiency for potential cuts. The groups have received at least $19.6 million from the federal government since 2020 while pushing controversial values on schoolchildren.
Key facts: The Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America represents 200,000 physical education teachers and was paid $82,245 to train teachers in...
Topline: The Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Defense and Office of Personnel Management violated the Payment Integrity Information Act by publishing inaccurate estimates of their improper payments last year, according to recent federal audits.
Key facts: Improper payments — sent to the wrong person, for the wrong amount or the wrong reason — cost the federal government $161.5 billion in fiscal year 2024, and nearly $1 trillion in the last four...
