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State audit office reports staffing gains, warns municipalities still fall short on basic bookkeeping
Summary
A state audit office official told the Joint Committee on Public Accounts the office has rebuilt staffing since 2018 and passed a federal peer review, but many Alabama municipalities lack basic bookkeeping capacity and the office has limited enforcement tools under current law.
At a Joint Committee on Public Accounts meeting, a state audit office official said the office has rebuilt staff levels and increased audit output but warned that many municipalities and local entities still lack basic bookkeeping and accounting capacity, hampering audits and compliance work.
The official told the committee the office’s examiner ranks fell from 229 in February 2008 to 121 in February 2018, and that the office has since hired to meet a revised staffing need (about 60 additional examiners compared with 2008 levels). The official said the office created a new class of compliance examiners — hired about 15–20 people without traditional accounting degrees — and that audits are increasing, with an estimated 1,200 audit years expected to be released this year and roughly 1,100 entities under the office’s jurisdiction.
The official said the office piloted contracting with private CPA firms after staffing losses, but found the approach expensive (roughly $1 million for six or seven engagements in the pilot) and, in some cases, still unable to meet federal reporting deadlines such as the June 30 timeline for certain federal filings. "I don't need more money. I need to find the bodies," the official said, arguing recruitment of qualified staff was the priority.
Officials described a successful peer review this summer that cleared the office to perform federally required audits for another three years. The official also said the office has taken on additional responsibilities, including a new position to assist the prison oversight committee and closer collaboration with legislative staff on drafting local salary and implementation details.
Despite the staffing improvements, the official told the committee the biggest ongoing problem is weak bookkeeping at the local entity level — school boards, county commissions, sheriff's offices and district attorney offices — which limits the audit office’s ability to complete work and produce clean audit results. The official said the office spends substantial time mediating public-records disputes and is considering hiring a municipal audit coordinator to manage oversight of about 472 additional municipal entities now within the office’s scope.
The official also noted a shortage of certified public accountants entering the workforce and said the office has discussed incentives to increase CPA certification among staff. On enforcement, the official said current remedies are limited: the office can propose corrective action plans, assess fines when authorized, or refer matters to the attorney general in extreme cases, but that adding an enforcement mechanism might be needed.
Committee members asked brief questions and made comments during the end of the presentation. The official closed by saying the office will pursue municipal compliance work over the coming year but does not expect immediate full compliance and emphasized a preference for corrective plans over punitive measures where appropriate.
The remarks combined status updates (staffing, peer review results, audit output), piloted use of outside CPA firms, operational issues (public records mediation and recruitment), and planned administrative changes (municipal audit coordinator and possible enforcement review).
