Auditor Wants
To Keep Her Job

Again, a few short years after losing an attempt to end the elected auditors in 2005, some members of the Royalton selectboard have determined to end having elected auditors as allowed by a poorly thought out state statute. As reported in the Feb. 8 Herald of Randolph, the town clerk claims the position is "redundant." Far from it in fact, as it is the only genuine check on the behavior of the selectboard.

Then on February 15, the selectboard submitted a letter to the editor urging passage of three warned Australian ballot issues; to eliminate the town auditors, to limit the constable's authority in police matters and to adopt the revised Town Plan.

They allege that no one has served their entire term of late, which is untrue because I have. They allege that there have been vacancies due to a lack of volunteers, yet that fault lies directly with the selectboard for failing to appoint auditors. It is utterly beyond belief that people who are well enough known to be elected to the selectboard could not find volunteers for the job.

Curiously, they were able to find folks to fill such odd positions as fence viewers, weigher of coal, and inspector of lumber and deputy tree warden, among other odd positions. The letter to the editor also claims that a single auditor cannot act alone when there are no other auditors on the optimal board of auditors, being three by statute. That is false. The statute merely requires concurrence of the board of auditors and is silent on how many make a majority. It is clearly not illegal for the board to be one if the selectboard fails to appoint replacements or encourage others to run.

The selectboard letter goes on to explain that the town employs a CPA firm to audit the books due to the finance requirements when the Chelsea Street Bridge was contracted, but notes that the audit report goes only to the town offices, and the voters do not see it.

The function of the outside auditors is vastly different from the elected auditors, as they are confined by the rules under the Government Accounting Standards Board. Having been chided for not reviewing the outside auditors‚ reports for the town and school district last year by several accountants, this year I demanded to obtain copies for the first time. From the town audit, I discovered that several major capital equipment purchases were made only a short time after, but not in the budget passed at last year's town meeting. Later I could find no evidence of them being competitively bid. This is troubling because had the voters been asked, I am fairly certain they would have approved the purchase of a road grader, a large dump truck and a roadside mower on a purchase plan.

The report was created by a committee consisting of selectboard member Peg Trombly, Town Clerk and Treasurer Theresa Harrington and Selectboard Assistant Jackie Higgins, all of whom have a direct conflict of interest in preparing the report. Worse yet, they very illegally determined not to include the elected auditors' report because they deemed it inappropriate, apparently because it was revealing of irregularities.

Even worse, neither I nor my spouse was mailed a copy of the town report and we are both voters in Royalton. This, too, is a violation of the law.

On obtaining a spare copy from a neighbor, it became clear why I did not get a copy. The report is self-congratulatory and a slap in the face to townsfolk who go to the town offices with problems, as is clearly illustrated with a photograph on page 39 showing the office staff with a sign saying, "NO WHINING."

Finally, I would like to point out that I voluntarily serve without pay because it is an important duty and not a desirable one because it is a lot of work. Civic duty may be out of fashion for many folks, but I still regard it as the bastion of our Vermont freedoms. I am well qualified by both education and experience. I ask you to vote for me and against the effort to eliminate elected town auditors.

Karen Kerin, Auditor

Town of Royalton