The Augusta Commission approved Tuesday seeking an internal auditor to review operations in city departments.
The vote was 8-1-1 with Commissioner Jordan Johnson voting “no” and Commissioner Bobby Williams abstaining.
Jurisdictions such as Columbia County “conduct these audits, and they’re routinely done,” said Commissioner Catherine Smith McKnight, who pushed for the audits. “They’re not looking to find wrongdoing. An operational audit basically is saying that you’re looking at the department’s organization and the way they manage, and they’re checked in upon.”
McKnight’s motion called to hire a “third-party accounting firm” separate from the one that handles the city’s annual external financial audit, currently Mauldin and Jenkins.
The new hire will “perform regularly scheduled operational audits on all city departments, ensuring every department is audited at a minimum, once every four years,” it said.
Earlier in the meeting, former Commissioner Moses Todd spoke in favor of the audits. “Internal controls for the Augusta-Richmond County government is no stranger here,” Todd said, but “it shouldn’t be politicized or weaponized as far as departments go.”
The decision comes as Augusta rebounds from scandals surrounding former Mayor Hardie Davis, last year’s federal conviction of former Commissioner Sammie Sias for impeding an investigation into misspending public funds, and the more recent discovery that city staffers failed to submit certain documents to the IRS for several years. But all agreed Tuesday the auditors will not look back, only forward.
“We need to be focused on the operational procedural methods of each department. How are we taking in cash? Is there a good accountability of that? Should we be taking in cash?” said Commissioner Sean Frantom, who supported the motion.
In Columbia County, where he and McKnight grew up, “every four years they go into the organization and try to look at each one, including elected officials, which I fully support here,” Frantom said.
Johnson said hiring an external auditor will “cost us money” and “disrupt the flow of operations” in city departments. “Just throwing stuff against the wall to see if it’s going to stick is irresponsible,” he said. “We already have an audit and it comes back fine. What are we looking for?”
While the annual “external” audit is performed by a third-party, most cities hire private firms as well to conduct “internal” audits, Finance Director Donna Williams said.
At some point, Augusta had an internal auditor on staff, and Macon-Bibb and Columbus-Muscogee still do, Williams said. Having a non-employee conduct the audits “removes any political pressures,” she said.
Williams said each audit will be tailored to the department being audited. An audit at Animal Services, for instance, might look very different from one of of the Richmond County Tax Commissioner, she said.
Commissioner Stacy Pulliam asked if departments that don’t have standard operating procedures will be penalized.
“I am all for an audit. I believe it is awesome. But I don’t want to penalize our departments if they don’t have these things in place,” Pulliam said.
Williams said the city’s request for proposals will further define the scope of services sought from the new auditor, such as an audit for efficiencies, cost-savings or internal controls.
‘You’re out of order’
Recognized to speak by Mayor Garnett Johnson, Commissioner Brandon Garrett called for the question. At that moment, General Counsel Wayne Brown weighed in, asking the word “local” be removed from McKnight’s motion. Williams exploded, demanding an answer to a question about the frequency of the audits.
“When are we talking about doing these audits and when would the first one be done? Would it be four years from now?”
For about a minute, Johnson attempted to stop Williams from speaking, but Williams kept on. “Commissioner Garrett is out of order, but you wouldn’t know that,” Williams said to Johnson. “You’re out of order. I don’t know where this dude is coming from.”
Eventually, Brown said Garrett’s call for the question did not end debate if a commissioner is opposed. A vote to end the debate passed 8-2 with Commissioner Alvin Mason and Johnson opposed.
