Denver voters are being asked to modernize the city’s century-old auditor’s office by voting “yes” for Referred Question 1B. We urge their support for this long overdue reform of the city’s financial procedures.
If approved, 1B will create a Department of Finance headed by an appointed chief financial officer. It will also give the existing auditor’s office, for the first time, the clear authority and resources to conduct the kind of financial and performance audits that are crucial to the modern notion of an auditor.
Denver is unique in Colorado in having the job of auditor as an elected office. But despite the job title, the city’s 102-year-old charter doesn’t actually specify auditing as one of the responsibilities. Instead, it saddles the auditor with payroll and accounting functions for a host of city agencies. Meanwhile, the kind of routine auditing most citizens wrongly assume the auditor does – checking the books to be sure no one is defrauding the city – is actually contracted out to professional accounting firms.
The most important job of a modern government auditor is “performance auditing” – a concept that didn’t even exist when Denver’s charter was drafted a century ago. Performance audits go beyond watching for fraud and ask whether the best available practices are in place. They often propose reforms that give taxpayers better service for less money.
To its credit, the Denver auditor’s office has sporadically tried to conduct such performance audits, but the office has been overburdened with routine clerical functions. Worse, because the auditor issues paychecks and signs off on city contracts, the office is effectively auditing itself when it does performance audits.
1B will eliminate the conflict of interest and give the auditor the time and resources to review city operations. The auditor’s office will also keep its current power to hold up contracts when warranted.
The reforms stem from the report of a blue-ribbon committee that studied the city’s financial structure and recommended consolidating Denver’s financial responsibilities – now strewn out among five city agencies – under a single chief financial officer reporting to the mayor.
After months of bickering, the current auditor, Dennis Gallagher, and Mayor John Hickenlooper reached agreement on the current language of 1B. Thus the measure on the Nov. 7 ballot has drawn no organized opposition. We urge a “yes” vote on 1B to bring the Denver auditor’s office into the 21st century.
