Legislative Audit Division tells appropriations panel it must raise rates, staff up to meet annual single-audit demands

The Legislative Audit Division told the Section A Subcommittee of Appropriations that it expects to increase its billing rate and billable hours in the 2027 biennium as the state shifts toward annual federal single audits and continues to audit pandemic-era federal programs.

“For this next biennium, we have to do essentially three years’ worth of federal auditing in two years,” Legislative Auditor Angus McIver said, summarizing the division’s workload challenge under House Bill 132, which requires a change to the audit cycle.

Why this matters: agencies’ ability to receive federal funds depends in part on timely, complete federal single audits. The audit division said it is proposing a higher hourly audit rate and changed internal budgeting to cover expanded audit work, including more information‑technology controls testing. The division also asked the subcommittee to approve appropriation language that lets the Office of Budget and Program Planning reallocate pooled audit dollars if the composition of federal testing differs from estimates.

Billing rate and appropriation drivers: McIver and Deputy Legislative Auditor Cindy Jorgensen said the division’s current billing rate is $97.11 per hour for fiscal 2025, a jump from fiscal 2024. The division has proposed a projected billing rate of $99 per hour for the 2027 biennium, which Cindy…