Local governments

In response to legislative interest in addressing unauditable governments, the State Auditor's Office recently updated the status of this small group of noncompliant districts.

In May 2019, SAO released a Guide to Unauditable Governments, highlighting a small number of local governments that do not file their annual financial report or allow themselves to be audited – both of which are legally required by law. At the time, about 40 governments – almost all small special purpose districts – were determined “unauditable.”

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

By The Center for Government Innovation

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

By The Center for Government Innovation

TACOMA – Today, the Office of the Washington State Auditor released its report on a major fraud investigation involving the Pierce County Housing Authority. The finding, nearly $7 million in misappropriated public funds, is the largest case of its kind on record for a Washington local government.

As a follow up to our #Gov101 series on fire districts, let's take a look at what we can learn about these governments using the Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT)! FIT contains financial data on nearly 2,000 governments in Washington, including over 350 fire protection districts.

Our infographic below merely scratches the surface; there are amazing things to find through exploring the data. Everyone can find a story and learn about all the governments serving our state. What will you discover this time?
 

Check out the second part of the new #Gov101 video on fire districts, which is all about how fire districts in Washington manage their finances.

The Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT) now contains the most recent financial information from nearly 1,800 local governments!

This week, Auditor Pat McCarthy notified local governments of a coming adjustment to the hourly local audit billing rate.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, the local audit billing rate will be $113, due largely to significant salary increases that have affected all state employees.

From the Olympic Peninsula to the Palouse and the area in between, over 2,200 local governments exist to serve the residents of Washington. Although you may be aware of cities and counties, are you aware of the more than 40 types of special purpose governments in our state?

By the Center for Government Innovation

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

The Center for Government Innovation has published two new resources to help local governments identify best practices for two different, but possibly related areas: credit card programs and travel expenditures.

Credit card programs