News From the Vermont State Auditor

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Dear Vermonter,

This newsletter is the first of a series intended to inform Vermonters about the work of my office.

Simply put, in addition to auditing the state’s finances and Vermont’s use of federal funds, the Auditor’s office is the independent team that holds state government accountable. A more detailed description of what we do is shown below.

These are some of the subjects we’ve addressed in recent years: health care, economic development, agriculture, Lake Champlain clean-up, capital projects, and the Child Protection Registry.

We will send newsletters as we issue reports and will discuss prior audits or issues under consideration.

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Who we are and what we do.

The State Auditor is a constitutional officer, elected biennially. The Auditor’s principal duties are generally defined by 32 VSA §163. We have 16 positions, including 11 professional auditors (one vacant at present), a government research analyst, a finance manager, an executive assistant, my deputy, and me.

We hire an independent audit firm to conduct the annual financial audits and the Federal Single Audit, which is a compliance audit of major programs funded by the federal government. This leaves our full-time auditors free to focus exclusively on performance audits that evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of government programs, departments, and processes. These audits determine if programs are meeting their goals and examine how well government is functioning.

We perform our audits in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards, which are promulgated by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. These standards ensure that our audits are of the highest quality and uphold the principles of independence, objectivity, competence, and integrity.

Each year, we review prior audits to determine the extent to which the auditees have implemented our recommendations. We cannot compel state government to change, but our aim is to take an evidence-based approach and present that information clearly so that managers and decision makers can see the value of making the changes recommended. Here is the most recent overview of our recommendation follow-up.

We expect to release several reports in the next two months so you will be hearing from us again soon.

Sincerely,

You are receiving this newsletter because you received emails from my campaign email list last year. With the approval and guidance of the Attorney General’s Office, I have transferred the list to the State Auditor’s Office to keep you informed of the work of my office with the stipulation that I cannot use the list for non-official purposes.