The Auditor of Public Accounts (APA) reports to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) of the General Assembly. This means the APA is independent of the government entities it audits. This is a process dating back to the House of Burgesses in 1621.
The APA serves Virginia residents by providing unbiased information and recommendations for improving accountability and financial management of tax monies in an objective and impartial manner. Today, the APA uses the internet to publish the information provided by all towns, cities and counties within the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Challenges are presented for comparative reporting when there's no required standardized format for categorizing revenues and expenses (budget preparation). The Comparative Report of Local Government for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008 states "Over 18% or thirty-two localities did not provide information by the November 30 statutory deadline. Untimely submission of data by local governments continue to delay the issuance of this report."
Any lack of accountability should make taxpayers pretty uncomfortable. Some localities -- excluding Christiansburg -- did not even report to their own auditors, much less the state's, and are excluded from these reports. Apparently state sanctions (like withholding state and federal funds) are insufficient, while it appears those citizens are either ignorant or complacent in accepting this as the status quo.
Christiansburg has had an outside, annual audit -- performed by the same firm for nearly two decades -- which most recently lead to the creation of a combined Treasurer/Finance Director position.
Looking at only Christiansburg's revenues (all tax sources) and expenditures (departmental allocations, public procurement and capital spending) over the past few shows town residents the following:
| FY Ending June 30 |
FY 2008 |
FY 2007 |
FY 2005 |
| Revenues |
23,254,373 |
22,037,918 |
20,052,368 |
| Expenditures |
-19,127,640 |
-17,386,430 |
-15,334,119 |
| Variance (Balance) |
4,026,733 |
4,651,488 |
4,718,249 |
| Year to Year Change |
5.07% |
9.90% |
8.92% |
Going back to 2002, the APA reports show Christiansburg voters that tax revenues increased an average of 11.9% per year, while spending went up 9.30% on average.
Ask any Town Council member if they can tell you how amounts left over at the end of a fiscal year are used. Or can the Finance Committee speak authoritatively about whether "variance" amounts are cumulative and grow each year, or represent funding which has been rolled-over into a new fiscal year and reserved as "rainy day" funds? The town's budget sure doesn't provide these types of specifics.