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g~e1ATlpry-... Association of Local Government Auditors
2009 MY 20 PM 1? 00
May 20, 2009
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OFFICERS
lz;,;aon, Colleen SchTandt
lady snauDel Legislative Auditor
r)ifMaol', Au2itw'Gcmrrai-: Sa'9cc
Tonal:,, (11111i), Cznad.r County of Hawaii
,r„,,,I,,,,, ei. 25 Aupuni Street, Room 308
Amanda Noble Hilo. H1 96120
I)CIM) City Atkli'.or
A,!ui11e, r.4
bear Ms. Schrandt:
Roes Tate
4m icnpa Gov mp, A editor
rhooiN. A% Further to our recent conversation, I am providing the following
„:U,,•- comments for your review.
Mike Edmonds
Chie!' Njnay C1:,y Audir;r
aakimid. CA As you know, and by way of background, I am a past president of
<:,t Paad:m the Association of Local Government Auditors (ALGA) and
George MCGo an currently serve as Chair of ALGA.'s Advocacy Committee.
+t'nabr.r. Audit
and t.1s11ngwn,oni s, ip" ALGA 1s a professional organization committed to supporting
Od:mdo. rt, and improving local government auditing through advocacy,
collaboration and training, while upholding the highest standards
BOARD MEMBERS of professional ethics, ALGA has more than 300 organizational
ATtARGE members and over 2.000 individual members. ALGA's
Beth Sealer membership represents a wide diversity of local govemment audit
Al dit lams" organizations ranging from one-}person audit sho s to others with
~albhlltip_L, ri_ > ginC p
Ben Greene more than 75 professionals.
Dgnaw Chy wjilu,
ahlnnit. Az Government auditing is a cornerstone of good public sector
Drummond KahA governance. By providing unbiased, objective assessments of
U'l, SCnlrCi oifwor whether public resources are responsibly and effectively rnanaged
r,athlnd. OR to achieve intended results, auditors help govenmrent
1dY Poole organizations achieve accountability and. integrity, improve
' i` arwkcr
ehs,pk,r,~,, e,+. operations, and instill confidence among citizens and
stakeholders. The government auditor's role supports the
governance responsibilities of oversight, insight and foresight.
Oversight addresses whether government entities are doing what
MEMBER SERVICES they are supposed to do and serves to deteet and deter public
40 Flartou Code corruption. insight assists decision-makers by providing an
Shire 1
txzlnprn, tY,rS;,, independent assessment of government programs, policies,
rm•,m is a=,-once operations, and results. Faresighr identifies trends and emerging
r".:, s<ilwe.o;m challenges. Auditors use tools such as financial audits.
performance audits and investigation and advisorv services tO
~v c c ruse ras! te, • ;1
mrmbm. urcios; ir~cvrrnmcma'adi,ors_n_~ tnlfill each of these role-;.
Comm. No.
, a
Ref. To:
Ref. Date 11ftY 2 p Zpp~_
! ~i FOR 'iEIIf AL PAGE 11
Pig, 1
As a minimum, government audit activities need organizational independence. Organizational
independence allows the audit activity to conduct work without interference by the entity under
audit and with an appropriate level of budgetary resources. The audit activity should have
sufficient independence from those it is required to audit so that it can both conduct its work
without interference and be seen to be able to do so. Coupled with objectivity, organizational
independence contributes to the accuracy of the auditors' work and the ability to rely on the
results and reports.
Of significant importance, the audit activity must have suffici exit funding relative to the size of
its audit responsibilities. Any attempt to reduce the size of any audit entities budget
significantly impacts the level of its independence and its capacity to carry out its duties. This
important element should not be left wider the control of the organization under audit. In certain
jurisdictions, the level of an audit entities budget is directly and tegislatively tied into the overall
budget of the jurisdiction. In these circumstances, it is not possible for the relevant government
body to reduce the budget of the audit entity.
In summary, the level of audit resources should be sufficient to enable an adequate level of audit
work to be conducted.
Yours very truly,
Jeff Griffith,,
Chair, Advocacy Committee
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