The Pennsylvania Auditor General’s office plans to audit the operations of the state Gaming Control Board for efficiency in operations, to determine whether the board is in line with the goals of the state gaming law.
Those goals include maximizing property tax relief for Pennsylvania residents and benefiting the racing industry. Prior audits have found inefficiency in the board’s awarding of professional services, excessive travel expenses and insufficient investigation of new employees.
In an interview with the Allentown Morning Call, state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said he will revisit all of those compliance issues, which surfaced in 2008 and 2009 audits.
“We’re going to be curious to see how effective they’ve been there, DePasquale said. “The big picture about this is making sure that the system is running cleanly and, No. 2, that the promises of jobs and property tax relief are being as maximized as they can be.
“Whether it’s enough property tax relief is certainly an open debate, but my job is to make sure they’re maximizing what they’re supposed to be doing. And third is whether the benefit to the horse racing industry is really being fulfilled, because that industry has started to have some challenging times as well.”
