What does the Salt Lake County Auditor do? Why should I care who the auditor is? Why should I vote for you?
These are the most asked questions I get when talking with people on the campaign trail.
What does the SLCO Auditor Do?
The County Auditor has two major categories of responsibilities related to property taxes and auditing the county government.
The county auditor sends out a notice of valuation each year to inform property owners what their taxing authorities are doing. Are they raising/lowering taxes? If they are raising them, we will let you know where you can go to attend their truth in taxation meetings.
The county auditor has a statutory duty to audit the county government for fraud, waste and abuse.
Why should I care who the auditor is?
You should care who the auditor is because this is the only elected county official whose statutory duty is to look out for you, the taxpayer, and ensure the county isn’t spending your taxes buying $300 hammers, handing out no-bid contracts or allowing money to walk out the back door because internal controls are not operating properly or even missing altogether.
After our office sent out the property tax notices in August, I noted that many residents were unhappy about their property taxes increasing so much.
Regardless of whether you are mad or not about your property taxes, you should want to know that they are being spent wisely. That some government official isn’t spending those dollars in a reckless manner. Or that a county employee who feels underpaid isn’t siphoning off your tax dollars to unfairly increase their financial position. You should care that someone is there to protect your compulsory investment in the county.
Why should I vote for you?
Not only do I have the professional credentials to back up my claim that I know how to audit (CPA, CFE, CIA). I have relevant and recent experience performing audits, managing auditors and audit shops. I know what “right” looks like.
Historically, before I took over, no audits had ever been performed in compliance with professional standards.
The reason that this is important is that auditing in compliance with professional standards such as Generally Accepted Governmental Auditing Standards (GAGAS) ensures that audits are conducted in an independent, objective and fair manner. It provides protection for both the county as the auditee and the voters and residents. Those who ultimately rely on the auditor and their work to hold the county government accountable for how our tax dollars are spent.
If audits are performed in compliance with GAGAS, you will know the following:
The auditors performing the work have met the necessary continuing professional education requirements. This means you can be assured that people looking out for your taxes know what they are doing and how to audit. You wouldn’t want a doctor flying your plane or a mechanic performing your surgery.
The audit shop is having a peer review at least every three years. This is where another audit shop comes in and looks at the office and conducts an audit of our management, supervision, fieldwork, work papers and reports to ensure our findings are supported, and the audit work was conducted properly. It’s a quality assurance process.
After winning the special election in February with almost 80 percent of the vote, I took charge of the Salt Lake County Auditor’s office. As a CPA, I quickly identified key problems and immediately went to work correcting them. The most significant ones were:
The Salt Lake County Auditor’s office has been operating with an impairment to independence since 2012, when the state statute for county auditors was changed, requiring the county auditor to get permission from the legislative body or county executive to perform certain audits. This change requires the help of state legislators and support from various state associations, our own county council, and the governor. We have been hard at work and hope to have it corrected in the 2023 legislative session.
No fraud hotline policy or audit committee. We worked with the County Council and just this month passed the first-ever fraud hotline policy for Salt Lake County. After working with the County Council and our attorneys, we will have the audit committee up and running before year-end.
No peer reviews ever. As the county auditor, I have enrolled our office in the peer review program with the Association of Local Government Auditors. I have not only experience being peer-reviewed, but I participated in the process by giving another audit shop a peer review. Our office is scheduled for its first-ever peer review in the 4th quarter of 2023.
Salt Lake County needs an auditor with the experience and know-how of auditing and auditing standards, but also the experience to properly set up and manage an audit shop that puts out high-quality audits performed in accordance with GAGAS. This will provide the maximum mitigation from the risk of fraud, waste, and abuse.
Chris Harding, South Jordan, is running for re-election as Salt Lake County Auditor. He has more than 16 years of relevant and recent audit experience.