Denver International Airport has implemented several changes to cut down on its outstanding balances owed for issuing badges to employees and to monitor its security contract, a new report from Denver Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien’s office has found.

A September 2018 audit examined the credentialing and badging procedures at DIA, plus the management of private security company HSS, Inc. Prior to the audit, the city had signed a contract with HSS for $115 million over three years.

Originally, O’Brien’s office found that the airport, which issues security badges for employees, had not collected over $430,000 for late fees and overdue invoices. Twenty percent of badge revenue, representing 1,600 invoices, was outstanding between January 2017 and March 2018. The airport bills companies operating at DIA for new badges and renewals, each worth $10, and for background checks, worth $40.

“When we looked at how the airport handled badging fees, we found the airport was leaving a lot of money on the table,” said O’Brien. “Today, budgets are the tightest we’ve seen in a long time and every dollar matters. I’m pleased to see our recommendations are making a difference.”

Among the improvements, the update released on Thursday found that DIA’s Finance Division prioritizes reviews of customer balances that are 90 days overdue, and then contacts customers with their overall balance. There are also new procedures to define the responsibilities of the Airport Security Division and the Finance Division in the billing process.

For HSS, the Airport Security Division now has a method to audit paid time off, and the airport updated its contract to allow for reimbursements for vehicle miles driven.

However, the airport is still not sending automatic payment reminders to all customers, as first recommended. It also has not instituted late charges and interest payments for overdue payments. O’Brien’s office noted that this was due to the Workday software being incapable of calculating interest.

“Workday was updated in March 2020 to help address this issue. However, because other airport divisions use another system called PropWorks, management decided to use PropWorks instead of Workday for the process of calculating interest penalties,” the report explained. “The interest charge process will be included as part of an initiative to transition all billing and customer payment processes into PropWorks by the end of 2020.”