auditor | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published May 30, 2019 at 7:30AM | Updated May 30, 2019 at 9:17AM

County Auditor Probes Police Overtime — “A performance audit conducted by the County Auditor as part of his Fiscal Year 2018 work plan found that the Arlington County Police Department’s overtime costs exceeded budgeted expenses in Fiscal Years 2016, 2017 and 2018. The audit did not identify any evidence of improper overtime.” [Arlington County]

Few Fireworks in School Board Race — “A relatively low-key race for the Democratic endorsement leading into November’s School Board race is headed to three days of caucus voting, with the two candidates focused more on the issues than landing body blows on each other. ‘I would prefer to talk about how we are going to move in a positive direction in the future,’ challenger David Priddy said when asked to lay out the biggest failures of the School Board during the period incumbent Reid Goldstein has served on it.” [InsideNova]

Schools

New Audit Finds No Cause for Alarm Over APS Construction Costs

By Alex Koma

Published October 1, 2018 at 3:45PM

Arlington may spend slightly more on school construction than some of the county’s peers around the D.C. region, but a long-awaited audit report suggests that the school system has done a decent job holding costs down in recent years.

Prepared by an independent firm for the School Board’s internal auditor and released today (Monday), the new analysis commends Arlington Public Schools for matching other dense urban areas like Alexandria and D.C. when it comes to the cost of new school construction. The audit found that the county does tend to spend more on architectural and engineering work than some of its neighbors, but analysts chalked up that discrepancy to Arlington’s challenges finding space for new schools.

News

County Auditor Plans to Review Economic Development Incentives, Purchasing Practices

By Alex Koma

Published June 11, 2018 at 9:45AM

Arlington County government offices/headquarters at 2100 Clarendon Blvd

Arlington’s independent auditor is planning new reviews of how the county incentivizes businesses to move here, how it oversees its Business Improvement Districts and how it buys goods and services.

County Auditor Chris Horton unveiled his proposed work plan for fiscal year 2019 on Friday (June 8), after taking in public feedback and conducting a “risk assessment” of the county government.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 31, 2018 at 9:00AM | Updated May 31, 2018 at 9:37AM

State Budget With Medicaid Expansion Passes — “After months of inaction, Virginia’s General Assembly passed a budget Wednesday that expands Medicaid to around 300,000 low-income Virginians. The House voted 67-31 Wednesday night to send the two-year budget bill to the governor, and 68-30 to send the ‘caboose’ bill to the governor that the Senate approved earlier in the day.” [WTOP, Richmond Times-Dispatch]

County Auditor Gearing Up for New Projects — “Arlington County Board members and the general public soon will be able to see what topics the government’s internal auditor plans to study over the coming year.” [InsideNova]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 21, 2018 at 9:00AM | Updated March 21, 2018 at 9:17AM

County HQ Renovation Vote Delayed — The Arlington County Board last night agreed to defer consideration of renovations to county government headquarters until April. The Board will discuss the “‘opportunity costs’ for the $10 million in rent abatements that will fund part of the renovation project,” in the context of the current county budget discussions, according to Board Chair Katie Cristol. [Twitter]

Arlington Declines Amazon FOIA Request — A Freedom of Information Act request for more information about the county’s Amazon HQ2 bid, sent from the Washington Post’s Jonathan O’Connell, was denied on the grounds that the information was “exempt from disclosure.” At the County Board meeting this past weekend, several speakers called on the county to release more information about what it has offered Amazon. [Twitter, WTOP]

News

Independent Auditor Seeks Suggestions of Things to Audit

By Bridget Reed Morawski

Published February 7, 2018 at 2:45PM | Updated February 7, 2018 at 4:26PM

Arlington County government offices/headquarters at 2100 Clarendon Blvd

(Updated at 2:50 p.m.) Arlington County’s independent auditor is soliciting suggestions for potential government audits from residents.

Chris Horton, who has been in the job since Nov. 2016 after his predecessor, Jessica Tucker, decamped for California, wants residents to chime in with ideas for transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness measures that should be undertaken. The goal is to uncover suggested audit topics for his 2018 work plan that result in “a broad community impact, a significant financial impact or both.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published October 25, 2017 at 9:30AM | Updated October 25, 2017 at 9:59AM

Arlington Murder Suspect Arrested — Jason Allen Johnson, wanted for the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Michael Gray at an Arlington house party in February, has been arrested. Fox 5 reports that Johnson was arrested in New York on unrelated charges. [Fox 5]

County Threatens Eminent Domain for Bus Parking Lot — Arlington County is threatening to use the power of eminent domain to acquire a property it is currently leasing for bus parking along I-395 near Shirlington. The County Board last night authorized an offer to buy the property, which is assessed at $20.5 million, but also authorized use of eminent domain to acquire the property if its purchase offer is unsuccessful. [Arlington County]

News

Arlington Hires New Auditor, Launches Public Fraud and Abuse Hotline

By ARLnow.com

Published November 11, 2016 at 11:30AM

The hotline, which launches on Tuesday, Nov. 15, “will offer a confidential and secure way to report suspected incidents of financial fraud, waste and abuse.” It expands on a similar hotline for County employees to report activity that negatively impacts County operations.

“Ethics are at the core of what we do as public stewards,” Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz said in a statement. “Our employees, by and large, do the right thing every day. We successfully launched an employee financial waste, fraud and abuse hotline in May of 2015. We are pleased to expand this hotline to the public, as another easy way for anyone to report suspected instances of financial fraud, waste and abuse.”

News

Arlington County’s New Auditor Is Leaving the Job

By ARLnow.com

Published June 15, 2016 at 1:45PM

Jessica Tucker, the county’s first independent auditor to report directly to the County Board, is resigning as of July 8 and taking a new job in California.

Tucker’s tenure at the county started on Jan. 25, and seemed to be going well. She announced that she was seeking audit suggestions from residents last month.

Around Town

Arlington County Auditor Seeks Resident Suggestions, Concerns

By ARLnow.com

Published May 2, 2016 at 4:45PM

In a press release, below, the county says it has set up a form for resident suggestions of programs or services that should be reviewed — or ideas for improving county government efficiency, transparency and accountability.

The form asks how the suggestion would benefit the county, with the following options:

News

County Board Set to Hire Independent Auditor

By ARLnow.com

Published December 15, 2015 at 1:55PM | Updated December 15, 2015 at 11:47PM

The Arlington County Board is set to hire its first independent auditor, six months after voting 4-1 to create the position.

At its meeting this afternoon, the Board is expected to approve a contract with an auditor named Jessica Tucker, to serve as Arlington’s Independent County Auditor. If approved, Tucker’s employment will begin Jan. 25.