Political Philosophy for Snow Hume, CPA

The Promises of Reform

I promise that,if elected, I will do all within my power to effectuate the following reforms of the Office of the Orange County Auditor-Controller:

1) To put all budgetary and financial reports of the County onto a website on the internet, downloadable onto PC or Mac personal computers, and in commercially popular spreadsheet programs such as Excel and Lotus 1-2-3;

2) To harmonize financial reporting formats, by implementation of reporting standards beyond the minimum standards established pursuant to Government Code section 30200, so that the County's budgets and Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports ["CAFRs"] have similar formats that permit ready comparison of budgeted and actual financial activity;

3) To change the County budget's format, so that "funding sources" [i.e., revenues and borrowings] are presented to the same level of detail as appropriations, thereby allowing ready determination of what net county costs are for each program;

4) To abolish all arbitrary allocations (that are not explicitly ordered by the Board of Supervisors), meaning to require that all accounting allocations and apportionments be supported by calculative documentation that is based upon rational criteria;

5) To gradually correct cost accounting abuses in the County's books, by critically evaluating each allocative criterion's objective economic validity;

6) To actively use the County Auditor's power to determine the illegality of proposed payments, especially in connection with arbitrary interfund transfers and with payments that go for illegal purposes; and

7) To modify the County Auditor's monthly report of the "treasury count", performed pursuant to Govt. Code sections 26920-26923, to make the report reflect the kinds and risks of investments of all funds, pools or other accounts in the Orange County Treasury.

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Snow Hume, CPA

I would further inform all voters that the County Auditor does not have the power to decide whether or not internal audits are performed on various county departments. Although the County Auditor must avoid potential conflicts of interest that could arise if he or she is asked to audit a count department, nonetheless certain decisions as to these audits lie within the sound discretion of the Board of Supervisors.

Specifically, the "biennial" audit required by Govt.Code section 25250, which applies to departments having actual custody of county assets, may be performed by whomever the Board designates. The Board need not designate the County Auditor to perform these. It is therefore deceptive for any candidate to say that he or she "will ensure that every county department is audited every two years." The scope of audits under section 25250 is restricted to "financial accounts and records," and cannot extend to general performance audits, which are sometimes misdenominated as "management audits."

The Board of Supervisors may, under Government Code section 26883, engage the County Auditor to audit nonfinancial "accounts and records," that is, conduct true performance audits. But again, the decision as to whether or not these are performed is within the sound discretion of the Board of Supervisors. It is therefore misleading for any candidate to promise, without such a qualification, to "implement management audits of every county department."

The County Auditor has some power over deciding which "fund" shall be used to pay certain claims against the County. See Government Code section 25252 and annotations to section 29803. This power could affect the County's activities in developing the El Toro base for an airport.