Proposition 1 Amendment to Tulsa City Charter - City Auditor

Proposition 1 on the balllot November 10, 2009, would amend the city charter to change the qualifications required of the City Auditor:

“SHALL THE EXISTING CHARTER OF THE CITY OF TULSA, AS HERETOFORE AMENDED, BE FURTHER AMENDED TO REQUIRE THAT ANY PERSON FILING FOR AND HOLDING THE OFFICE OF CITY AUDITOR MUST BE A CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT OR CERTIFIED INTERNAL AUDITOR?”

According to the City Charter, the Auditor is responsible for carrying out these responsibilities:

A. Examine periodically the accounts of all offices, divisions, departments, boards, authorities, commissions, and agencies of the city charged with the receipt, disbursement, management, or custody of funds of the city and report in writing the results of such examinations to the Mayor and Council;

B. Make such other examinations and audits of the financial records, accounts, and inventories of properties of the city at such times as the City Auditor may deem necessary or as the Council shall direct to determine whether the financial records, accounts, and inventories of properties of the city are being kept and maintained in accord with applicable laws and in accord with generally accepted governmental accounting principles;

C. Make appraisals, comments, and recommendations to the Mayor and the Council on the systems and procedures for keeping and maintaining the financial records, accounts, and inventories;

D. Report to the Mayor and the Council the action taken by any office, employee, division, department, board, authority, commission, or agency on the recommendations of the City Auditor with respect to the systems and procedures for keeping and maintaining the financial records, accounts, and inventories;

E. Make available to the appropriate prosecuting attorney the results of any regular or special examination or audit which reveals irregularities or dereliction in the receipt, disbursement, management, or custody of funds or properties of the city which may be grounds for prosecution; and

F. Conduct such internal audits of city programs, activities, and functions as the Council may require by ordinance or resolution and report in writing the results of such audits to the Mayor and Council; and

G. Perform such other duties and services as the Council may require by ordinance or resolution.

When considering this proposition, is instructive to look at the qualifications of other cities when making a determination about what qualifications should be required. Below is a list I've compiled of city auditor qualifications around the country. While you read the qualifications of other cities, ask yourself if you think it is wise to require less from our city auditor than other major cities?

City of Richmond, Virginia:

Administrator of the organization. Reports directly to City Council through the Agencies Committee and to the Audit Committee. Unclassified position. City residency, CPA and additional qualifications required. Administers contract with external audit firm. Responsible for negotiating performance agreements and annual evaluations for Audit Staff. Evaluated by City Council

Austin, Texas:

The city auditor must:
1) be knowledgeable in performance and financial auditing, public administration, and public financial and fiscal practices;
2) be licensed as a certified public accountant or certified internal auditor; and
3) exercise due professional care in carrying out the auditor’s duties, and ensure that due professional care is employed to conduct an audit.

Long Beach, California:

The City Auditor shall be elected by the qualified electors of the City and shall hold office for four (4) years, and until a successor has been elected and qualified. To qualify for the office of City Auditor, a candidate shall be licensed to practice in the State of California as a certified public accountant and have been so certified for at least five (5) years immediately preceding the date of filing of a nominating petition for the office of City Auditor.

Oklahoma City preferences (not requirements, per se):

• Seven to ten years of senior audit management experience with a local government organization of similar size and complexity.

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Public Administration, Business Administration or related field.
• Possession of a valid Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license/certification and/or Certified Internal Auditor (CIA)
• Demonstrated knowledge of generally accepted governmental auditing standards.
• Demonstrated knowledge of applicable Oklahoma statutes and ordinances designation issued by the Institute of Internal Auditors.

Portland, Oregon:

A Candidate for City Auditor must be, at the time of filing a declaration of candidacy or a nominating petition: a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor, or Certified Management Accountant (Portland City Charter Section 2-501)

Scottsdale, Arizona :

A Bachelor’s Degree and a minimum of seven years of direct experience in audit management. Must be certified as a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or Certified Management Accountant (CMA)

In some cities it is not required that the city auditor be a CPA or a Certified Internal Auditor, although in my research I never found an instance of a policy that stated: CPA or CIA not required. In other cities, such as Arlington, Texas, and Columbus Ohio, I could find no requirement, but the city auditors are credentialed.

In a number of cities, like Kansas City, the City Council is in charge of appointing an auditor. The appointed auditor in Kansas City is a CPA. Colorado Springs City Council also has appointed a CPA.

Credentials are important to most people. There certainly are a minority of persons who have little respect for credentials. For example, I've known a number of uncredentialed engineers in various disciplines, who for some reason, see no need for professional credentials in their field. However, for supervisory positions in most companies, a P.E. is usually required. You certainly need some credentials if you want to have the authority sign off on something.

Professional credentials give the end user of professional services an assurance that the professional has met at least a minimum level of competence. Short of on the job experience, there is no assurance of competency for the uncredentialed professional. Certainly, having the signature on an official document from a credentialed professional adds to the integrity of the document. Professionals with credentials often take a test to get their credential, agree to be bound by a set of professional conduct rules, and are required to get a set amount of continuing education. Uncredentialed professionals need to do none of these things.

Professional credentials are important to me. For instance, my family visited a private school a few years ago, in hopes of finding a good place to educate my son. When I discovered that nearly none of the teachers were credentialed in any way, it didn't matter to me or my wife what kind of novel and unique educational approach the school practiced - there was no minimum assurance of competency - the school was out of consideration.

If you don't think credentials are important, then you should vote against the proposition. If you think that credentials add a level of professionalism, integrity and competency to the City Auditor position, you should vote for the proposition.