|
Columbus
Dispatch...
Locals criticize
state auditor for raising fees
By Catherine Candisky
Auditor Dave Yost is increasing the fee his office charges to conduct
audits, a hike expected to cost Ohio schools, townships and other
government entities more than $5.2 million over the next two years.
The move comes after state lawmakers approved a two-year state budget
that whacked funding to schools and local governments by hundreds of
millions — and operating funds for the auditor by nearly $2 million.
Those picking up the tab for the auditing of their books say the fee
increase is just the latest example of the state passing along costs to
local taxpayers.
“We took some pretty big cuts, and it just seems that where they can
push a cost onto us, they do,” said Matthew J. DeTemple, executive
director of the Ohio Township Association.
School districts urged Yost to reconsider, given the financial crunch
that educators face.
“We see it as a shift in cost to the locals,” said Barbara Shaner,
director of legislative services for the Ohio Association of School
Business Officials.
The budget slashed aid to schools by $780 million and local governments
by $633 million over the next two years.
Yost yesterday defended the fee increase and said the rates his office
will begin charging next month are still a good deal for local
officials.
“Taxpayers expect a thorough audit — one that catches sloppy
accounting, mismanagement and fraud. A good audit costs money. We do
what we can to keep those costs low and, in most instances, at an
hourly rate lower than what’s charged by the private sector,” he said
in a statement released by his office.
Schools and government entities receiving federal funding must pay to
be audited every year, while those receiving only state money must have
their financial records examined every other year. State auditors
perform two-thirds of the reviews; private auditors are hired to do the
rest.
The Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review, a bipartisan legislative
committee, this week approved Yost’s request to charge $41 an hour for
audits performed by the auditor’s office, generating an additional
$5.2 million for his office over the next two years.
Hourly rates now range from $24 to nearly $64, based on the wages of
the auditor doing the work. Auditor interns bill the least; audit
chiefs charge most.
A provision tucked into the new state budget gave Yost the authority to
raise the rates he charges.
While the budget also cut about $1.8 million from the operating funds
of the auditor’s office, the fee increase was requested because a
recent study showed the auditor’s actual cost of conducting an audit of
a local government is more than the office was charging, said Michael
Mauer, a spokesman for Yost. The study conducted by Maximus Inc. in
June found the cost was $64.62 an hour last year.
In his request, the auditor noted that the $41 rate still would be
less, and that private auditing firms were charging on average $60 an
hour last year. The firms set their own fees and are not subject to
rates charged by the auditor.
Shaner said school-district costs are expected to increase 11 percent
statewide. Although Yost’s hourly rate is less than the fee charged by
private accountants, the latter typically bill for fewer hours, so the
overall cost is usually less, she said.
DeTemple said the impact on townships will vary, but one reported that
if the higher rate had been in place during its most-recent audit, the
cost would have been 30 percent higher.
“For some small townships with small budgets to begin with, any
increase or any expense like this is going to be significant,” he said.
Read it at the Columbus Dispatch
|
|
|
|
