County officials brainstorm fix for auditor's office talent drain
Channing Rucks, The Oskaloosa Herald, Iowa
5 min read
Jul. 14—OSKALOOSA — A large-scale drain of experienced employees from the county auditor's office is causing a ripple effect on the county's financial reporting system.
Since the 2022 election, newly-elected county auditor Teri Rogers estimates that her office has lost approximately 83 years of experience in six months. Jody Van Patten, a long-time auditor's office employee with 27 years of experience, was elected as the county recorder last November. Three other employees have left the office since the election for various reasons, with another soon to follow, leaving a wide gap in the department's experience pool.
The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors met with Rogers, Van Patten and County Treasurer Shauna Hol in a special quorum meeting on Wednesday afternoon to discuss "office support" and brainstorm a way to fill the gap.
"We've basically gutted that office ... And there is a terrible lot to that office," says county supervisor Steve Wanders.
Supervisor chair Mark Groenendyk says that the county's goal is to stabilize the office and train new people to run it effectively.
"That's what we're trying to resolve here, is how to stabilize this office, get some retraining done, get it on good ground again," Groenendyk says.
The Institute of Public Affairs has referred to the county auditor's office as the "hub of county government," according to the Iowa State Association of County Auditors. The office wears a multitude of hats, functioning as "budget central" for the county, clerk for the board of supervisors, commissioner of elections, county financial officer, county registrar of voters, county tax accountant, custodian of the courthouse, custodian of election returns and records, overseer of county plats, human resources manager and more.
All of these duties make the office of county auditor central and vital to local government.
Officials raised concerns that, after attempting a "streamlining" process in the auditor's office and with only seven months of experience, Rogers might not yet be qualified to train the newly hired personnel for payroll and real estate positions in her office, or ready to present work for the county's yearly audit.
"You guys have changed things in the office and how things are done," Van Patten says. "You've streamlined some things, but streamlining isn't always the best. I can see where things have been missed streamlining."
"The filing system isn't the same," Van Patten adds, "and I am not saying that there is one right way and one wrong way — not at all. But I'm concerned. When the auditors come, the auditors pretty much help themselves to the drawers ... They know the claims system, they know how to go pull those out and look for themselves. You guys have totally changed that."
Rogers says that the change to the filing system has been in an effort to modernize the existing one, which is currently on paper and outdated. She canvassed comparable counties including Marion County and consulted with Terpstra, Hoke and Associates, the firm that performs Mahaska County's yearly audit, before beginning to modify the system.
"[The auditor's office] has been daunting, really, is the word I use for it," says Rogers. "But I like the work, I love the office and I love my staff."
Van Patten raised further concerns that the auditor's office won't be ready to start working on cash balance and the county's financial statement after completing the year-end process. Hol says some of the hold ups in the auditor's office are affecting her ability to complete the duties of the county treasurer.
One solution the group came up with is to set aside a period of up to two months for Van Patten to focus her attention on reverting the auditor's office back to the system it used before the streamlining process began and to train the new personnel Rogers is planning to hire, giving Rogers more time to familiarize herself with the office before making modernizations to the filing system.
Officials are having ongoing discussions about what that collaboration would look like. Funding to pay for Van Patten's extra time would come out of the auditor's budget, and current full and part-time employees would work to cover Van Patten's role in the recorder's office while she works in the auditor's department.
Rogers is hopeful that the collaboration could start as soon as next week, after the hiring process for the office's new payroll clerk is completed. She says that the collaboration will be discussed at the Aug. 7 meeting of the board of supervisors.
Groenendyk says that addressing the issues with the auditor's office is vital to county stability.
"We're running a tight budget the way it is. If there's errors, and you don't have an ending fund balance to finish off until next June 30, you're going to find a lot of upset people, including the public," he says. "Because our ending fund balance — because there've been mistakes — our ending fund balance is already below 25 percent."
Wanders added that county officials have no way of knowing how many more mistakes might be coming.
Iowa Code section 66.1A does allow for the removal of an elected official, such as a county auditor, from office for "Willful or habitual neglect or refusal to perform the duties of the office," or for "Willful misconduct or maladministration in office."
However, Groenendyk feels that discussions about the auditor's office are moving in a positive direction with the possibility of Van Patten offering her services and Hol lending her support to get the department back on track.
"I think this is positive news that we have three elected officials willing to work together, collaborate together for the benefit of the citizens of Mahaska County to make sure that the services that we provide are provided to the citizens the best we know how and are capable of doing. This is a plus-plus for everyone," he says. "I want to thank the recorder's office, I want to thank the treasurer's office, thank the auditor's office for all working together to serve our public the best we can."
Rogers says that the auditor's office is doing everything "humanly possible" to hire new talent and train them to run the office.
"You don't have anything to worry about," she says. "We're going to make it."
