Current Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts Mike Harmon, a Republican from Boyle County, is term-limited after serving two consecutive terms. Two candidates – current Kentucky Treasurer Allison Ball, a Republican, and Democrat Kim Reeder – are vying for office.
The auditor is responsible for conducting financial and performance audits of state agencies, local governments and special districts – essentially any public or private entities that receive state funds, including school districts and prisons. Additionally, the auditor investigates allegations of fraud, waste and abuse of public resources and provides recommendations for improving government operations and accountability.
The auditor is elected to a four-year term and can only serve two consecutive terms.
“So, the auditor’s role, there are certain things that you have to do, and there are certain things that you can champion,” Harmon said.
According to Harmon, the state auditor ensures that the government operates efficiently, effectively and ethically to the best of its abilities. Because municipalities are audited yearly, Harmon said, they are constantly working with folks in Northern Kentucky.
Other responsibilities include auditing each of the pension systems once every five years and sitting on the pension oversight board to offer input on how pensions are run (the auditor is not a voting member.) The auditor (or a proxy) also chairs the State Committee for School District Audits.
Harmon said the state auditor also lobbies for improvements to the auditor’s office to help save funds for the state’s counties. He said the current complaint the office receives most come from counties and concerns the cost of the audits.
One thing Harmon said he helped lobby for while in office was an agreed-upon procedure for sheriffs or county clerks that have a clean financial statement from the previous year. They can apply and be approved for automatic data processing, similar to what Ohio does, which saves the municipality money versus a full financial statement audit.
“I think we’ve worked with or consulted on 12 to 13 pieces of legislation since I’ve been here,” Harmon said.
Harmon said that, should the office have a finding during an audit, it typically is due to a lack of segregation of duties, especially in smaller municipalities.
“It’s not our role to get people; it’s our role to follow the data and report it,” Harmon said. “I like to think of it as more guardrails to help people from running off the road. Because if, you know, somebody’s looking over your shoulder, if you know somebody’s checking on you, the temptation hopefully drops.”
Harmon said that the state auditor must remain impartial regarding political affiliation in the day-to-day role. He said workers in the auditor’s office must also be mindful of any situation they would need to recuse themselves from.
“As an auditor, you’re very careful that when you walk through the door, you try to take your partisan hat off, put on your independent, nonpartisan hat, and go to work,” Harmon said.
When he ran for the Republican nomination for governor, which he ultimately lost to Attorney General Daniel Cameron, he recused himself from audits or any business attached to the governor’s office.
Another way the state auditor’s office keeps biases out of its work is by keeping everyone from auditing the county they’re from.
An office also up for election this November is the state treasurer, which might seem like a similar role to the auditor. So, how do they differ? The treasurer’s office manages the state’s finances, including collecting and depositing state revenues, investing state funds and paying state bills. It is also responsible for issuing bonds and other securities on behalf of the state.
“I think the important thing for the auditor – we live in such a politicized, such a sadly divided time in our nation and, to a certain degree, the state, and it’s important in the role of the auditor to just follow the data,” Harmon said. “Not to target anyone, not to give anyone a pass, but to follow the data.”
