Auditor Fight Demands Solutions, Here Are Two

Instead of a pointing fingers and disparaging each other, lawmakers and the auditor himself should find a solution to minimize costs to local government, and maximize oversight.

Last week, I wrote about the latest in the pissing match between the North Dakota state auditor Josh Gallion and the legislature:

Legislative Records Show Distrust Of Auditor's Office Pre-dates Gallion's Tenure

Today’s hit piece is about how the auditor’s office charged the Williston school district $131,600 for the audit that found “21 areas of concern” and was initiated by a petition that collected signatures equal to 35% of the voters in the last election. (Audit petitions have the highest threshold, even recalls are only 25%.)

You can read the summary and the whole Williston School District audit here.

What Should Be Done About These Bills?

As Rob Port states in his article today:

“In the face of criticism about the cost of his audits, Gallion has insisted that he's charging fair market rates. And state law does require that his office charge the entities being audited. But one local official after another has told me that the cost of audits has gone up significantly under Gallion, and that they're troubled by big invoices they must scramble to pay their own state…