Because the role of auditor of public accounts is a term-limited one, Mike Harmon will be leaving office, and Kentuckians will see two new faces running for the position in November.
Though one of those faces may not look new to some residents: Current Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball was nominated as the Republican candidate in May to face off against tax attorney and Democrat Kim Reeder.
Meet the candidates
Before serving as Kentucky’s treasurer, Ball practiced bankruptcy law for two years and was a prosecutor for four years.
“This experience gives me the ethical, financial, legal and investigative tools to successfully serve as state auditor,” Ball said. “While I served as your state treasurer, I protected pension dollars from political Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) investments and ensured dollars were invested to get the best returns. Additionally, I have stopped millions of dollars of fraud attempts at the Kentucky Treasury.”
One of her proudest accomplishments as state treasurer, Ball said, was championing a bill mandating that Kentucky high school students take financial education classes in order to graduate.
“My track record displays my commitment to the auditor’s duty to protect taxpayer dollars and good government,” Ball said. “I am experienced with fiscal and legal matters, which makes me ready to serve Kentuckians on Day 1.”
Reeder has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University, a master of public policy from Duke University and a law degree from the University of North Carolina Law School, which she said demonstrates her “intellect and ability to excel in rigorous programs of study.”
Over roughly 20 years, she built a tax practice in large law and accounting firms, including promotion to partner by age 37 and being named one of the Top 10 tax lawyers in the country by an industry publication in 2011.
Reeder said that, during her career, she has provided opinions on financial statements, advised on the tax and economic impact of multimillion-dollar transactions, and argued tax cases before the Iowa Supreme Court and California 1st District Court of Appeal. She also works as a communication, government and math teacher and speech/debate coach.
Reeder told LINK nky that the most pressing need facing the auditor’s office is for it to be led by an experienced professional who will not be swayed by partisan issues.
“The auditor is tasked with serving as a disinterested party who conducts independent audits within Kentucky state and local government,” Reeder said. “As such, the auditor’s most important charge is shining a bright light on how taxpayer dollars are spent. Put differently, the auditor must rigorously but impartially pursue government accountability and transparency and eliminate waste and abuse.”
Ball said the pension system is the most pressing issue for the auditor of public accounts. The auditor is responsible for auditing each pension system once every five years and sitting on the pension oversight board to offer input on how pensions are run.
“Kentucky continues to have one of the worst-funded pension systems in the nation,” Ball said. “Having a poorly funded pension system means not only that our state employees’ future retirements are in jeopardy, but it also threatens the financial future of our state as a whole. We have seen in recent years that this unfunded liability has even caused the state’s credit rating to be downgraded.”
As treasurer, Ball said, she fought to protect state pension dollars from being invested in ESG funds that place political objectives above solid returns.
She said she also championed the passage of HB 236 this year, which makes it clear that Kentucky law does not allow pension dollars to be invested for objectives other than good financial returns.
In addition, she supported the passage of SB 205 in 2022, which directs the state treasurer to create a list of companies that are boycotting fossil fuels. The law then directs state governmental entities to begin divestment from these companies.
“This work has been imperative to ensure that our already strapped pension plans are not utilized to fund political agendas while losing money,” Ball said. “It has been especially important at a time when Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance funds are being strongly outperformed by fossil fuels.”
An initiative Ball said she wants to focus on should she be elected auditor is to find “creative ways” to save the commonwealth money and make it more efficient. In particular, she said, she wants to focus on lowering the cost of audits on local government by consolidating services and developing public-private partnerships.
Should Reeder be elected, she said, one policy she would prioritize is an audit of state funding allocations to local school districts (i.e., SEEK funding, which allocates state-provided funds to local school districts) to determine whether they comply with existing law.
“Special attention would be given to issues of adequacy and equity in the funding, transportation funding and special education funding,” Reeder said. “This audit would benefit local school districts because it would shine a light on any state noncompliance and quantify the specific impact on school districts and students.”
She also said she would like to initiate a focus on performance audits, which evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of government programs, assess various risks and benchmark state operations.
“These audits benefit Kentuckians because they help us understand whether government spending and processes are creating the results we expect,” Reeder said.
Examples of past performance audits include examining whether DUI education and treatment were changing the behavior of offenders, analyzing the procedures for tracking noncompliance with Kentucky’s sex offender registry, and looking into school districts’ implementation of adult literacy grants.
Reeder said that, because the scope of what can be examined in performance audits is broad, she would seek public input (both in written form and through public meetings) on issues that should be discussed.
She said she would also seek input from various stakeholders on whether the audit fees and expenses the auditor charges to local government entities are reasonable and fair.
