Roseau, MINN—Last week, the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) released a report that assessed the Minnesota Office of the State Auditor’s (OSA) review of county audits performed by Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firms. Auditor Rebecca Otto and the OSA charged Roseau, Pennington and Kittson Counties for additional audits, claiming that the audits completed by a private CPA firm did not meet their standards. The OLA report demonstrated concerns with the OSA’s findings against those county audits, stating they did not treat the CPA firms it reviewed with standard due process or professional courtesy.
“From the beginning, we’ve seen that Auditor Otto has been politically motivated in her attack of counties who choose to save taxpayer money by using a certified CPA firm instead of her office. This has come at the expense of Roseau, Pennington and Kittson Counties and the hardworking taxpayers in our community,” said Rep. Dan Fabian, R-Roseau. “We all share the goal of ensuring government is transparent and accountable to the public, but this nonpartisan report confirms that Auditor Otto isn’t treating CPA firms with professionalism, due process or common sense.”
Under a bipartisan 2015 law change that was signed by Governor Mark Dayton, all Minnesota counties were given the opportunity to choose between the state auditor and private, certified CPA firms for audits, giving counties and local taxpayers the opportunity to find significant cost savings for their annual financial review. Auditor Otto, who opposed the law, challenged it in court and lost in her lawsuit and subsequent appeal.
“I am fully supportive of our local counties and trust that they do everything they can to ensure financial integrity in their expenditures and meet the requirements of state and federal law,” concluded Rep. Fabian. “Our county officials are elected by citizens to advocate for their best interests, and they do. The findings in the nonpartisan OLA report are disappointing but not surprising. We deserve better from elected officials like Auditor Otto.”