Strangle Performance Audits

In an effort to close a multi-billion dollar deficit our elected officials plan to cut 15 million dollars from voter-mandated performance audits. What do performance audits do? Find ways to improve performance, cut budgets and save money. If you can follow this reasoning you might feel right at home in state government.

However, my cynical mind suspects that there is a rational purpose for slashing millions from the state auditor’s budget. How do you stop someone from finding out that you are wasting millions of dollars? Well, if you are the Washington State legislature you cut their budget. The state government never wanted these audits. The voters mandated performance audits as Initiative 900, a Tim Eyman proposal that finally granted the auditor’s office the authority. Now, at a time when everyone agrees budgets must be cut, officials believe they can strangle this bothersome Eyman initiative before too much fraud, waste and abuse of public funds can be uncovered.

The state auditor, Brian Sonntag, has stated that the diversion of funds is, “nothing short of an assault on what citizens expect the state to do when they gave us the authority and the funding stream to carry it out.” His office has completed 15 performance audits of state and local governments and agencies such as Sound Transit and the Department of Transportation. These audits have resulted in a ratio of nearly 10 dollars in potential savings for every one dollar spent. Sonntag claims that if all the recommendations of his office were enacted it would save taxpayers nearly $500 million dollars.

Our elected officials should view the auditor’s reports as constructive criticism, but many are not. The Seattle Port Authority staff stonewalled auditors and altered records. In the end Sonntag’s office uncovered nearly 100 million dollars in waste and fraud at the Port. After the 200-page report was released the port hired additional lawyers, at taxpayer expense, and continued to berate the findings even while the U.S. attorney for Western Washington began a criminal investigation.

Elected officials of Washington State, listen to constructive criticism. Grow up and clean up.