By Kristen Harris, Assistant Audit Manager – Center for Government Innovation
Estimated reading time: 1 minute
Local governments should, of course, report unclaimed property, but they also might be in a position to claim it.
The Office of the Washington State Auditor's Center for Government Innovation partnered with the Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC) to bring you updated guidance for writing travel and credit card policies.
The need to be cybersecure isn't going away-in fact, it's an issue that grows more relevant each day. As more local governments in Washington are the unfortunate victims of cyberattacks, the reality of the situation cannot be ignored.
Cybersecurity is everyone's job in a local government.
State laws require local governments to be audited by our Office and for them to submit annual financial reports, yet every year many governments do not meet these obligations. Failure to be audited and provide annual financial reports keeps the public in the dark about how public money is being used, and impairs the decision making of management and elected officials.
Today the Office of the Washington State Auditor released a pair of reports regarding King County Drainage District 5, including a fraud investigation.
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
The State Auditor's Office (SAO) performs almost 200 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) reviews each year. Local governments may also submit their ACFR to the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. As part of their ACFR reviews, SAO and GFOA identified several common errors that could affect your government's ability to obtain this certificate.
Here are some common errors and pitfalls to be on the lookout for when preparing your ACFR:
The Center for Government Innovation has added two procurement-related resources to the Resources Database in recent months:
YAKIMA – The Office of the Washington State Auditor published two audits of the City of Wapato today, documenting significant violations of government standards.