For the St. Louis American
I welcomed the State auditor’s staff to my office last week to begin the process of auditing the City of St. Louis. While the State plans to audit the entire City, the comptroller’s office will be audited first, followed by the treasurer’s office.
The State audit is in response to the St. Louis Green Party’s petition to find out how the City is spending lead poison prevention money and whether those federal dollars are being spent fairly across the city. I expect the audit will answer the Green Party’s concerns and find some areas in City departments that need improvement.
This audit comes at a time when the City is facing a myriad of budget issues, including how to fund growing pension costs. Uncovering waste, misspent money and other abuses may go a long way to help balance the City’s budget and improve operations.
While the State auditors are here, my office will continue working towards our goal of having strong financial operations with sound internal controls. Anything the State can do to help us reach that goal will certainly be appreciated.
Two issues my office hopes the State addresses are outdated computer systems that process payroll and asset management, and the timeliness of drawdowns and closeouts of federal grants. There are certainly areas in other City departments that can also benefit from the State auditor’s scrutiny.
City officials, departments and the taxpayers should know that the State auditors are here to help. I strongly encourage everyone in City government to openly cooperate with the State so our taxpayers get the most out of this audit.
But as with all audits, the real challenge is getting the departments to implement the recommendations made.
The State will issue an audit report for each department as its work is completed. I expect the comptroller’s office audit will be finished sometime this spring.
As the City’s chief fiscal officer, I appreciate this audit and look forward to implementing the State’s recommendations. Improving my office and other City departments will make City operations more efficient and ultimately benefit the taxpayers.
Darlene Green is comptroller for the City of St. Louis, the City’s chief fiscal officer.
