State Auditor Hector Balderas, shown here, is going after government agencies that haven’t submitted annual audit reports as required by law. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
The New Mexico Sports Authority, Gadsden Independent School District and City of Española are among the 87 government agencies in New Mexico that haven’t submitted annual and compliance audits to the state as required by law.
Because those dozens of agencies are late, State Auditor Hector Balderas has deemed them “at risk.” He announced in a news release on Tuesday that their failure to submit required audits puts more than $1 billion in taxpayer dollars are risk for fraud, waste and abuse.
In a news release, Balderas said the situation is “even more alarming” when considering that a special audit by his office recently found that $3.3 million was embezzled from the Jemez Mountain School District over a period of seven years — a period during which the district failed to submit most of its required annual audits.
“It is imperative that taxpayers’ monies are properly managed, especially when resources are scarce in the midst of a budget crisis,” Balderas said in the release. “… Now, all these agencies now have been put on notice that they will be held to a higher standard of accountability.”
It’s the first time the auditor’s office has publicly called out agencies that don’t submit required audits. Balderas first released the information Tuesday during a meeting of the Legislative Finance Committee.
The release of the list had an immediate impact. When Balderas presented it to lawmakers, 91 agencies were on the list. By the end of Tuesday, the list had shrunk to 87 after agencies scrambled to move into compliance.
You can view the list of those 87 by clicking here.
The agency that has gone the longest without submitting its required audit is the Santa Cruz Irrigation District, which last submitted a report in 2000. The late agency with the largest budget is the Gadsden Independent School District, whose budget is almost $200 million a year.
The agencies on the list are being monitored more closely by Balderas’ office than others. His news release states that they must submit status reports by Nov. 2 that “contain a detailed explanation of the agency’s efforts to complete and submit its audit, including an explanation of the current status of any ongoing audit work, a description of any obstacles encountered by the agency in completing its audit, and a projected completion date for the audit.”
Balderas said outstanding audits have long been a problem in New Mexico, and he’s proposing that state law be changed so that agencies can’t receive legislative appropriations until their audits are completed and submitted.
“Requiring every governmental agency to be fully accountable for every taxpayer dollar must be a priority,” he said.
Update, 1:20 p.m.
Shortly after this article was originally published, the auditor’s office released an updated list that includes 82 state agencies. Among the five taken off the list was the New Mexico Sports Authority.
Click here for the updated list.