Gwinnett leaders are considering changes that would improve internal controls on government spending.
Commissioners this week discussed bringing back an internal auditor, a position the county hasn’t had in eight years. In 2007, Gwinnett changed to a Performance Analysis Division, a department that focused on advisory services and measuring employees’ performance in addition to audit work.
The head of that department left in 2012, and the work has largely been done by an outside firm ever since.
Under the proposal outlined this week, the county would hire an internal auditor and would create an audit committee. The auditor would be expected to conduct financial, compliance, performance and other audits for all of the county’s departments and programs.
The committee would provide an avenue for those who disagree with an auditor’s report to dispute it, and would recommend plans to resolve any vulnerabilities in the audit system.
The committee would have seven members, including two commissioners, the county’s finance director and an outside CPA or auditor.
Gwinnett has had some kind of internal auditing function since the 1970s, commission Chairman Charlotte Nash said, but the proposal is a way to “formally reestablish” the job.
“Functionally, we’re doing a good bit of this already,” commissioner Jace Brooks said of the proposal.
Maria Woods, the county’s finance director, said it is rare for local governments to have an internal audit function and a committee. Still, she said, it is important to government “to have strong internal controls.”
“For it to be effective, it needs to be independent,” she said.
Woods said an auditor would come up with a schedule of what to investigate, but also be flexible enough to take on issues as they came up. Reports would go to both the audit committee and the Board of Commissioners.
Commissioners intend to vote on the proposal in April.
One of the current board’s main tasks is to return trust to a government that has had three commissioners leave their roles amid scandal. One resigned in lieu of being indicted, one reached a plea deal to serve probation and a third was found guilty of bribery and sent to prison.
An internal auditor could help further restore that trust.
“It mitigates the risk by looking at internal controls in an organization,” Woods said.
About the Author
