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Audit and fiscal directors press for better KPIs, faster statewide audit completion
Summary
The legislative audit director reported progress on key performance indicators, flagged a spike in staff turnover and said Montana remains behind peer states on ACFR (audit) completion. Staff described steps to improve data governance and urged use of SMART Act reporting and pilot performance budgeting.
Angus McKeever, director of the Legislative Audit Division, and Amy Carlson, director of the Fiscal Division, updated the committee on performance metrics and audit timelines, and described steps to improve performance‑based monitoring.
McKeever reviewed several KPIs showing recent trends: staff turnover rose to 17% in fiscal 2025 (a level he said will likely normalize); billing‑rate inflation for audit services ran about 6.5% versus a +/-5% benchmark; and completion of the statewide annual comprehensive financial report (ACFR) remains behind peer states—"we're at 129 days over our peers," McKeever said—though he reported modest improvement and stronger cooperation from Department of Administration.
Carlson described goals for improved data governance, ADA‑compliant website upgrades and work to integrate GenTEX datasets into a new data structure and dashboard. She and Holzer said the SMART Act and HB 834 create mechanisms to require agency annual strategic plans and performance reports and to encourage subcommittees to select measurable outcomes to monitor during the interim.
"We need solid data governance so we know what we're doing and how we're using it," Carlson said, noting growing demands to vet results generated by public AI tools and external analyses.
Audit and fiscal staff encouraged committees to identify priority program metrics and consider routing performance audit ideas to the Legislative Audit Committee. McKeever said the audit shop can be more proactive by bringing candidate topics to subcommittees rather than waiting for nominations during busy session windows.
