At its request, Yakima will be the first city in the state to undergo a special state performance audit, and we do like that it will be conducted without interference from City Hall.
State Auditor Brian Sonntag made it clear last week that his office will operate independently from a special City Council-appointed committee of council and community members that bills itself as an audit task force.
That local panel was set up ostensibly to help decide what city operations should be looked at. Sonntag said that while such input will be part of the overall information-gathering process, his office will control the audit and his auditors will not be steered by City Hall.
"It's not our committee, it's their advisory committee," he said during a meeting with the Herald-Republic editorial board. "We will interact with them and want to hear from them as part of the mix, but they won't be advising us. Independence has to be maintained and will be maintained. We do the audit and they are part of the city."
Sonntag also pointedly noted that after a meeting between him and the city-appointed task force, "They understand that now."
"The performance audit is a good management tool and we hope to supply useful information to the city," he added.
That's as it should be. Performance audits hold great promise for identifying areas that could be improved in search of more bang for the proverbial buck.
State voters gave Sonntag broad auditing authority with approval of Initiative 900 in November 2005. The state auditor has always done financial audits to try to make sure public dollars are spent legally and properly. Performance audits go a step further and look at how effectively and efficiently various units of government operate on taxpayers' money and offer suggestions for improvements.
Voters also gave Sonntag a way to pay for the audits. The program is funded with a special set-aside of 0.16 percent of the state sales tax, which raises about $12 million a year.
A couple of examples of how it works:
* The auditor's 2007 report on a review of the Port of Seattle's construction contract management cost $758,940, but identified $97.2 million in unnecessary spending. Serious deficiencies were found in oversight and controls and auditors made 51 recommendations for improvement.
* An audit of the state Department of General Administration's motor pool turned up potential savings of $2.3 million over five years just by selling or reassigning underused vehicles and revising new vehicle purchases to save interest on auto loans.
The city of Yakima's operating budget for 2008 is about $181 million, so we don't expect anything near the magnitude of the Port of Seattle in Yakima. But any operation can be improved, including city government.
Perhaps auditors can even take a look at such things as the city's penchant for hiring outside consultants and attorneys, especially on land-use cases, and determine if there's a better way.
Sonntag pointed out that local government can't be operated like a private business, per se, because government is made more cumbersome by requirements for public hearings, openness and other appropriate but time-consuming factors.
While we wouldn't have it any other way, surely local government can take a page from the private sector's book in finding ways to operate more efficiently. In business, profit and staying in business are the drivers; in government, such efficiencies can result in more and better services for the same taxpayer investment.
The audit will be front-loaded with input, including that from a town hall meeting in the near future. The Auditor's Office will also commission polls and has already set up a toll-free hot line, 1-866-902-3900, for comments and tips from the public. Auditors also want to hear from city employees who toil in the trenches. And, of course, suggestions from the city-appointed task force will be a part of that process as well.
So, bring it on. It will take about 18 months from start to final report. But we eagerly await the findings. The auditor's track record so far certainly bodes well for finding better and more efficient ways of doing at least some of the business at City Hall.
* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Sarah Jenkins, Bill Lee and Karen Troianello.
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