Funding for Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s internal audit program would be gutted for the third straight year under his proposed budget, prompting concern from officials that it would be impossible to adequately scrutinize the spending of billions of taxpayer dollars. The proposed $393,000 budget for the county’s Office of Internal Audit is about $270,000 less than just last fiscal year — and less than half of the audit bankroll the year before that, budget documents show.
“I think it’s very troubling,” said Councilwoman Nancy Floreen, D-at large. “We need to keep track of where the money is. Obviously it’s not a priority over there.”
Recent reports from the department, first reported by The Washington Examiner, revealed that a major county landscaping contractor didn’t report cash wages to the Internal Revenue Service; another showed large deficiencies in oversight for the county’s maligned — and now shuttered — tuition assistance program.
The audit office also released a countywide risk assessment that identifies departments most prone to waste and abuse.
Leggett’s office did not return multiple calls for comment, but previously, spokesman Patrick Lacefield dismissed concerns about undetected abuse, saying “Oversight rests in a lot of different places in county government.”
Larry Dyckman, manager of the internal audit department, is the lone county employee on the payroll. Because of the lack of a staff, the department has relied on contracting with outside auditors. Yet Leggett proposed reducing such contracts by $50,000 next fiscal year.
And the county’s Ethics Commission, which examines conduct of county employees, is facing a 12 percent cut — after absorbing a 20 percent hit this fiscal year.
On the heels of filling a billion-dollar budget deficit — and with a looming $300 million shortfall — some officials say watchdog agents should become more of a priority.
“It’s not a good direction to be going in,” said Councilman Marc Elrich, D-at large. “We’ve been told that we spend a lot less on this than other jurisdictions. My inclination would be to increase the funding. But I haven’t figured out where the money comes from yet.”
