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A8 wallowa.com News January 11, 2017 Wallowa County Chieftain Richardson presses desire for audits Secretary of State wants his office to pursue audits of ‘controversial’ projects By Claire Withycombe Capital Bureau SALEM — Secretary of State Dennis Richardson said this week he wants his office to pursue audits on controversial topics. Although the Republican has claimed he will run the of- fice in a nonpartisan manner, his office’s audit choices may be under wider scrutiny than usual in a state with a heavily Democratic government. Richardson said he asked the head of the audits division why there hadn’t been an au- dit of programs such as Cover Oregon, the state’s failed health insurance exchange. “The answer was that the process from the previous au- dit division director was, that if it is controversial, then that means that the Legislature is al- ready aware of it and is looking at it and so we don’t need to be involved, we’ll go audit some- thing that’s not controversial or where there’s no publicity,” Richardson said. Richardson said he under- stood that position, but that having been a legislator, he knows legislators have limited staff. His goal is to assemble a team within the audit division to audit agencies or programs when problems become public. “I think we need to have a small group of the auditors whose workload allows them to be utilized to go toward the fire if there’s a fire burning some- where,” Richardson said. He cited the Columbia Riv- er Crossing and the Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) program administered by the Oregon Department of Energy as other examples. The BETC program was audited by an outside firm last year, and the Legislature con- vened a joint committee to re- Pamplin Media Group Secretary of State Dennis Richardson says he wants his office to pursue audits on controversial topics. Although the Republican claims he will be nonpartisan, his office’s audit choices may be under wider scrutiny than usual in a state with a heavily Democratic government. view the energy department. Richardson also said he wanted to conduct audits on government projects as they unfold — although he did not yet have details Thursday about what sort of projects would fit the bill. Ideally, he said, such audits would look both at fi- nances and processes. There are detailed proce- dures in place for deciding which programs to audit every year, according to documents provided by the Secretary of State’s Office. Audits are divided into three types — information technolo- gy, performance and financial audits. Some financial audits are required every year. The state- wide single audit, for example, is required so the state can re- ceive funding from the federal government. Performance audits often make news. Typically they are more digestible, containing written recommendations for agency or program improve- ments. Auditors keep notes of po- tential audit topics while they are conducting other audits and keeping track of current events. Those ideas are kept in a data- base that describes the agency or program, the issue, and po- tential questions to ask as part of an audit. Requests for audits can also Wallowa County come from legislators, agency directors, or the state’s hotline for complaints of fraud and waste. Every year, the auditing team reviews the database of ideas — ranging in the hun- dreds — and whittle it down to 30 to 40 “priority topics,” which in turn are reviewed by managers. The audit division direc- tor, the deputy director and performance audit managers vote on the topics and then the team discusses the most popu- lar ideas to determine about a dozen topics for the upcoming year. Then the secretary of state and deputy secretary review the list and give feedback, which might prompt further discus- sion or adjustments to the audit schedule. The criteria used in evalu- ating program choices are var- ied, but can be summarized in three ways: The complexity of the audit, potential public ben- efit — including public safety issues, cost savings and “key challenges” for the state as a whole — and risk. “We are on the lookout for topics that are high risk, where we suspect the controls in place over a program are weak and where the resulting effects would be large,” according to documentation from the Secre- tary of State’s Office. HEALTH LINE 519 W. North Street, Enterprise 541.426.3413 Mon-Thurs 9 to Noon/1-5pm; Fri. 9-1 Keycode Entry Weight Room • Cardio Women’s Circuit • Tanning 202 W. Main, Enterprise 541-426-0313 Specializing in Anti-Aging Skin Therapy Customized Facials Waxing Services, Brow Sculpting Body Polish-Back Facials High-Perfomance Products 541-398-0759 | Located @ beecrowbee 01 Main Joseph wallowa.com uo matter what your business is, the Wallowa County Chieftain has the audience you need! We have many options to market your business in an affordable and effective manner. Call Jennifer Powell today! 541-426-4567 poffice) or email jpowell@wallowa.com