Information revealed this week by State Board of Accounts should trouble Hoosiers

STATEHOUSE – State Rep. Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis) issued the statement below in response to a presentation that was made Tuesday, Jan. 20, by the State Board of Accounts (SBOA) to the Indiana House Ways & Means Committee of which he is a member.

A link to information presented by the SBOA during its committee testimony will be found below, as well.

“Some troubling information for Hoosiers was revealed Tuesday at the House of Representatives Ways & Means Committee meeting.

“The State Board of Accounts (SBOA), whose job it is to prevent fraud by auditing state and local government, showed the impact of significant cut-backs on its ability to do its job.

“The agency’s presentation revealed that its budget dropped from $22,671,755 to $19,487,346 in 2015. They have also lost over a quarter of their staff, going from 283 in 2009 to 208 in 2014. Well over 1,000 units of government have gone unaudited despite a requirement that such audits be conducted.

“This lack of employees and funds has slowed the ability to audit. According to the SBOA, it has ‘examinations that have not been performed for 5 years.’ The lowered budget also makes it hard to hire and retain qualified employees.

“These shortfalls are leading to a lack of needed oversight in Indiana. Some Hoosier officials as of late have proven they cannot keep their hands out of the till.

“We need to do much better.”