(FOX 2) - A review of Michigan's Emergency 911 Fund found the treasury department's database does not accurately reflect payments that help pay for the state's emergency communication services.
It's not the first time the Office of the Auditor General has reported the deficiency, previously noting the deficiency in 2015 when it told the treasury department it needed to update its tools for tracking those that pay into the fund.
Failing to track who is and is not paying into the fund hampers the Michigan State Police's ability to identify delinquent remitter - or those that are behind on payments.
"We have commented on these deficiencies with Treasury's 9-1-1 database in each of our reports beginning with the fiscal year 2015 audit," the OAG said.
The department blamed failed efforts to replace its database as the reason it could not accurately track whether accurate payments were being made.
The fund was created in 1999 to help pay for the maintenance and upgrading Michigan's 911 services. It also pays for a federal order requiring the state have wireless emergency service that allows for the identifying the location and telephone number of someone calling from a mobile device.
State police provide oversight of the service, including the call centers that receive 911 calls, who gets funding, notifying suppliers of 911 service charges, and collecting and reporting data to the legislature.
Meanwhile, the treasury department collects the 911 service charges and appropriates the funds to help pay for the service.
One piece of the law that determines funding sources includes imposing a 911 service charge on users and prepaid consumers of all communication devices. That adds up to a $0.25 monthly 911 service charge on all devices which is collected by service suppliers and remitted to the Emergency 911 Fund.
In the latest audit, it was determined the treasury does not keep an accurate record of payments into the 911 database.
The treasury processes electronic payments as well as remittance forms, then matches them to create a payment record. Both sources include the amount due, the amount paid, and the source of the payment.
But according to the auditor, this method could not be relied upon because if an error is identified and things do not match, the treasury simply deletes the remittal, reenters it again and tries to manually make it match.
If this doesn't work, the treasury makes a comment in the database about the error before telling the remitter to make the fix. However, the unmatched payments remain in the database regardless of if they have been properly recorded.
In response to the recommendation that the treasury update its database, the department said it previously tried to replace the database in 2022, but canceled the project after several months.
"Treasury remains committed to determining a replacement for the 9-1-1 database and is actively engaging with departmental resources ot identify a solution that will meet the needs of all stakeholders," it said in response.