The decision by Arlington County Board members to reduce funding – they say temporarily – to the office of the board’s auditor has left one of their former colleagues almost speechless.
But not quite.
“Only in Arlington would a one-party County Board vote 5-0 to actually cut authorized funding from the county auditor’s budget in half, at the very time they pass a record budget of $1.65 billion brimming with new programs and the highest number of county employees ever,” John Vihstadt told the GazetteLeader after board members passed the budget.
In taking that vote, they accepted a proposal from County Manager Mark Schwartz to continue funding for the auditor position itself (which currently is vacant after a number of occupants have come and gone) but freeze two previously funded, but never filled, subsidiary positions. Under the fiscal 2025 budget, one of those posts will be left unfilled for at least six months, the other for the full fiscal year.
The total savings of about $210,000 equates to about 0.013 percent of the overall budget package. Critics of holding back funding on the positions say that, in the long run, auditors pay for themselves as they recommend ways to cut costs and make operational efficiencies.
In response to GazetteLeader inquiries, County Board members Takis Karantonis and Maureen Coffey (who serve on the government’s Audit Committee), said they were committed to first getting the new auditor on board, and then moving forward.
“Should the new county auditor need and request [the first frozen] position earlier, we would certainly grant this – funds are available from current savings, and the County Board is committed to support the request,” they said. As for the second frozen position, “we are again committed to moving the timeline forward at the request of the new county auditor,” they said.
(As for the auditor position itself? Karantonis and Coffey said the process is moving forward. “We are hopeful that this group of applicants will lead to a hire in the coming weeks; however, the position will remain open until the most suitable candidate for this position is found,” they said.)
Nearly a decade ago, the General Assembly authorized the Arlington government to employ an auditor responsible to the County Board rather than the county manager. It is one of the very few government positions that does not report up the bureaucratic food chain to Schwartz, and by declining to fund the two subsidiary posts, Vihstadt sees “an ominous sign that the County Board is ceding more power to an unelected manager while dialing back their independent oversight responsibilities the voters elected them for.”
Vihstadt, who as an independent served on the County Board from 2015-18 and now is an appointed member of the Audit Committee, testified at the county government’s budget hearing in support of full funding for the posts. But when the fiscal 2025 budget plan was adopted, it was left off.
The independent-auditor function was implemented by the County Board in 2015, following efforts by Vihstadt, County Board member Libby Garvey, the Arlington County Civic Federation and Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington), who shepherded the enabling legislation through the General Assembly.
It is a tool that should be nurtured, said Suzanne Sundburg, a veteran budget watchdog in Arlington.
“The lack of these audits robs both the County Board and county manager of a very useful tool to seek out and identify cost savings and efficiencies – money that is potentially being spent inefficiently or ineffectively and could be reallocated to other budgetary priorities,” she said.
