State Auditor Calls for More Local Government Transparency in Washington

The most common obstacles local governments face include tight budgets, part-time staff or volunteers, inadequate oversight by elected or appointed officials and inadequate technology.

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(TNS) -- In a special report, Washington's Auditor’s Office has said more than $2 million in public funds is unaccounted for because local governments have failed to follow a century-old state law. The report, “Local Governments: Promoting Transparency and Accountability,” said local governments, excluding school and educational districts, are not filing annual reports as required by a statute passed in 1909. Almost all of those failing to file are small entities such as fire protection, irrigation and parks and recreation districts.

According to the statute, the failure to file apparently carries no criminal or civil penalties, although officers or employees could be subject to removal.

But the failure to file has other consequences, one of which is a lack of transparency which “makes it difficult, if not impossible for taxpayers to hold local governments accountable” for how they handle public funds, the report said.

Other consequences for not having the information available could include denial of grant funds, poor bond ratings and inhibiting state lawmakers’ ability “to assess the needs of different governments for funding.”

Small budgets, few staff and technical difficulties were mentioned among the hurdles to timely filing, according to the report.

The report identifies 18 local governments in Walla Walla County as not filing the required reports in 2013, the latest year the Auditor’s Office has reports on file.

However, officials with two of those entities, the Walla Walla Joint Community Development Agency and the county Noxious Weed Control Board, say their reports were filed.

Tom Glover, the agency’s former executive director, and Dave Maiden, weed control board chairman, provided documentation that showed the reports were sent in as required.

Statewide, the report said 611 out of the 1,956 local governments in the state either failed to file reports in 2013 or filed late or incomplete reports. The unaudited funds and expenditures totaled more than $2.2 million, the Auditor’s Office said.

Among the state’s 39 counties, the highest numbers of non-filing governments were found along the northern I-5 corridor and in the mid-eastern part of the state. King, Whatcom, Pierce, Snohomish and Skagit counties each had 30 or more non-filing governments. King County had the most with 42 and Whatcom County was second with 36 local governments failing to report.

Undergoing a scheduled audit does not exempt a local government from having to file an annual financial report, said Thomas Shapley, Auditor’s Office deputy director of communications.

“The fact that we come in and audit them is separate from the requirement of (the state law)” he said.

The report said the most common obstacles local governments face to filing reports “arise from the very nature of local governments: tight budgets, part-time staff or volunteers and inadequate oversight by elected or appointed officials.”

Another problem is inadequate technology, the report said.

“In some small local governments, staff or volunteers may not have access to a computer, let alone Internet access and they may not have the technical know-how to use it effectively,” it said. “Old equipment and out-of-date software can slow even those with good computer skills.”

State Auditor Troy Kelley said his office is making efforts to reach out to local governments to provide training and advice on how to file reports.

An online filing system also became active in 2012 to allow local governments to supply the information instead of having to fill out paper forms and mail them.

©2015 Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (Walla Walla, Wash.)


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