Washington County Commissioners seek fiscal review of all agencies
By Christine Haines
chaines@yourmvi.com
The fiscal policies of agencies that handle programs for Washington County are being reviewed to make sure taxpayer dollars are spent not only legally, but responsibly.
Washington County Commissioners asked Controller Michael Namie and Finance Director Joshua Hatfield to review the fiscal policies of the related agencies and organizations to make sure they’re in line with those of the county.
“Last year we started to do some internal reviews of contracted agencies and their expenses,” Commission Chair Diana Irey Vaughan said. “When we did, we found that their expenses weren’t always in line with county policies.”
Irey Vaughan said the policies in place may be in line with state and federal policies and be completely legal, but the county wants to take it a step beyond.
“We’re not alleging anything is wrong. Just because something is allowable doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do,” Irey Vaughan said.
An issue found last year involved one of the human services providers expensing lunches even though county policy is that meals may only be expensed for employees working more than 50 miles from your office.
“We try to be reasonable with all purchases. A coffee maker may be an acceptable purchase; a fancy espresso machine wouldn’t be,” Irey Vaughan said. “It’s a nonpartisan initiative. Our Democratic controller will be leading this review and setting the standard for what is acceptable.”
Namie is starting his process with a review of the single audits already done by each agency.
“We’re just looking for things that are out of the ordinary,” he said. “There’s no single event that triggered this.”
Namie said it’s just a way to make government more efficient with public funds and to be consistent with county policies when money is spent, even if it’s spent by an outside agency.
“Each of these has their own board of directors which reviews things on a regular basis,” Namie said.
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