The auditor's office has about 400 employees with many assigned to regional offices around the state. It's important for them to know we're coming in and looking at things." "The work that we do really helps government to keep a check on how they're managing the public's dollars," she said, adding, "The expectation by the public is very strong and it's very high. McCarthy answers directly to voters as an elected state official, she said, and the office must audit operations across all branches of state government, including the Office of the Governor and the Washington Supreme Court. "But we're still anticipating that we're going to see more."Īuditor Pat McCarthy said the State Auditor's Office has had transparency and independence built in since its beginning. "In my mind, it's a little concerning that we're not seeing more fraud being reported to us," she admitted. While Armijo said she has not seen an alarming increase in fraud yet, considering the sheer amount of money coming through, she expects it's in there waiting to be uncovered. Without extra support, the auditor’s office would have to cancel or delay its oversight of high-risk transactions at some state agencies right when that examination is needed most. The State Auditor's Office has asked the Legislature for an additional $1.4 million to help cover the glut of new work, including an estimated 12,000 extra staff hours for auditing state-level agencies alone. The mounting demands have at times stretched the auditing staff thin and triggered backups on reporting schedules.
you're going to have an increase in fraud." "Any time you have a massive amount of money going out," Armijo said, ". Many small governments are facing their first audit of federal dollars. With multiple federal recovery bills urgently distributing money directly to states, cities, programs and projects, government officials have had to navigate complex - and sometimes shifting - spending rules.
Is it getting to the people who need the service?" "We are looking to make sure that within your community, within your state, that the money is used for the right purposes, and it's going for the right reasons. Auditors monitor about 2,300 different agencies and governments statewide, ranging from the city of Seattle to rural cemetery taxing districts, issuing public reports on spending practices and any violations. The State Auditor's Office typically works on the back end of government spending to ensure officials accounted for their costs properly and used the money as allowed. Federal support jumped to an estimated $36.5 billion last year, completely changing the scale of auditing required. "We almost doubled the state's federal spending in 2021."īefore the pandemic, Washington spent about $18 billion in federal money each year, according to a recent report. "We're dealing with billions of dollars here," she said.
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