The Delaware Office of Auditor of Accounts faces a number of challenges, but they are not insurmountable. With experienced leadership in the profession of state government auditing and investigating, I firmly believe that the office can fully serve all Delawareans.
The office is significantly understaffed, when un-staffed positions are already part of the state budget. Clearly, no office can operate at full capacity with ongoing staffing shortages - especially an office with as crucial a mission as safeguarding tax dollars. It must be fully staffed with qualified individuals committed to working as audit and investigative career professionals.
The office must consistently follow professional audit and investigation standards. All work performed in the office, and all findings coming out of the office, should be fact-based and independent, and unaffected by preconceived biases, political or personal considerations, or special interests. Annual financial audits and audit mandates required by legislation must be performed in a timely manner and according to the appropriate professional standards.
Delawareans look to the state auditor to provide regular program reviews and process evaluations to help ensure good government and transparency. They also expect a state auditor who can provide investigations and public reporting when taxpayers’ hard-earned tax dollars are spent illegally, unethically or frivolously.
Audits performed by the office in recent years have not received the appropriate attention and response from the rest of state government, including audits related to important areas like public education and renewable energy. There are far too many repeat findings and recommendations.
If audits and investigations do not produce concrete results, the tax dollars spent performing them are wasted, and that is unacceptable for an office seeking to identify, eliminate, and prevent waste. In addition to follow-up, easily accessible and digestible public status reports are vital. No government office can do it all, so community members can and should play a key role in ensuring that government officials act on findings.
To do that, the public must be kept informed. As state auditor, I will implement consistent, transparent follow-up reviews and public status reports regarding unresolved findings and recommendations.
Also, we must ensure that state employees are encouraged to report tips about fraud, waste and abuse. They should not be discouraged from doing so in outright or subtle ways. State employees and the office can work together to both identify fraud, waste and abuse, and to implement processes ensuring the best use of state revenue.
Further, employees in the office itself should not fear repercussions for fulfilling their duties to the utmost, following professional audit standards to perform investigations and issue independent, fair, fact-based reports.
Finally, it is not enough simply to identify fraud, waste and abuse once it has occurred. We must work to prevent it.
The state auditor must provide quality training to entities receiving and spending state funds. The old adage about an ounce of prevention is very much applicable regarding waste, fraud, and abuse in government and other public institutions.
With over 25 years in the specific field of state government auditing, including more than 15 years at a senior staff or director level, I am confident that the Delaware Office of Auditor of Accounts can be made to serve Delawareans to the utmost.
If I weren’t, I wouldn’t be running for state auditor.
Kathleen Davies
Candidate for Delaware state auditor
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