From 911 response times to water overbilling, the independent auditor for DeKalb County's government will examine more than two dozen potential risk areas this year.
Chief Audit Executive John Greene said these first efforts of his newly created office will help safeguard taxpayer money and improve government services.
“It’s a pretty aggressive plan,” Green told county commissioners during a presentation Tuesday. “These are just risk areas. ... We have no inkling” what the audits will uncover.
The audits will be handled by Greene and his staff of a dozen employees. The Office of Independent Internal Audit has a $1.37 million budget for 2017.
Audits will examine DeKalb's water and sewer infrastructure, animal shelter construction, recreation department cash handling procedures and more.
Other investigations will look into county government employees who are also paid by contractors, vendors with multiple contracts, change orders and sole-source contracting processes.
An audit of DeKalb’s water billing problems is already underway.
The DeKalb Board of Commissioners voted unanimously in February to hire KPMG, a financial services firm, to probe the county's widespread billing inaccuracies. That audit will cost up to $275,000 and likely be completed in June.
The audit will identify reasons for incorrect water bills and make recommendations for fixing the problems. The DeKalb Audit Office is working with KPMG.
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