Columbus - Auditor of State Dave Yost today testified in support of House Bill 2, which requires performance budgeting and auditing of state agencies, boards and commissions.

“Performance audits provide a tool from outside the bureaucracy to do what the profit motive does for the private sector: to drive better, leaner performance based on objective measurements,” Yost said. “In this disastrous fiscal environment, state government will be cut back. Performance audits are a critical tool to intelligent cuts.”

Performance audits measure an agency’s actual performance against its goals and objectives to help identify any waste, inefficiency or unneeded duplication of services. To ensure objectivity, auditors follow the U.S. Government Accounting Office’s Auditing Standards, sometimes called the Yellow Book.

In addition to his support for House Bill 2, Auditor Yost asked lawmakers to establish the Leverage for Efficiency, Accountability and Performance Fund (the L.E.A.P. Fund), a $5 million fund that would advance to state agencies and local governments the costs of a performance audit to be repaid from the savings.

“Struggling governments or agencies that could benefit the most from a performance audit are often those that can least afford to have one conducted,” Yost testified. “Not only would this remove funding as the most serious barrier to using performance audits, it would also provide additional incentive for the agency or government to actually implement the findings and recommendations.”

House Bill 2, sponsored by Representative Todd Snitchler (R-Uniontown) and Representative Peter Stautberg (R-Anderson Township), is being considered by members of the Ohio House of Representatives State Government and Elections Committee. Auditor Yost’s testimony was offered during the first hearing on the bill.
 

 
The Auditor of State is one of five independently elected offices under the Ohio Constitution. Auditor Yost’s office is responsible for auditing over 5,600 state and local government agencies. Staff also works in partnership with state and local governments to deal effectively with financial, accounting and budgetary issues.

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