Larry Phillips, a member of the King County Council who is running for county executive, introduced a bill this morning that, if passed, will require the county executive address problems with the county’s financial management by the end of August. His proposal coincides with a report issued today by the state auditor’s office that rebukes the county for failing to account for its finances adequately or provide enough information to complete the audit (.pdf). The 107-page report recommends that the county hold top-level officials accountable and make sure they “safeguard cash receipts, expenditures and assets.”

Problems largely stem from the county’s failure to adequately track construction projects; the county was so delinquent in submitting requested information that the state decided in January that it couldn’t complete that portion of the audit, the report says. State Auditor Brian Sonntag’s office asked for information about each construction project undertaken by the county, such as initial estimated costs, actual authorized costs, and starting and completion dates. However, the auditor’s office found that none of the departments could provide all the information it requested. “In response to our request, the audit team received dozens of spreadsheets that were compiled manually and that contained incomplete and conflicting information,” the report says.

In addition, County’s Department of Transportation, Roads Services Division carried huge cost overruns for which the county provided various explanations, including poor budgeting and inadequate cost controls. Of the 36 projects that the county provided sufficient information for, the auditor found expenses ran $26,582,535 over estimates. One project, on South 277th Street, was initially authorized to cost $2,605,000 but the county ultimately spent $16,589,882, the report says.

The problems appear systemic, with lack of adequate control over fares collected on Metro buses, property-tax refunds from the county assessor’s office, expenses for a jail rehabilitation program, cash management at the recorder's office, or tracking inventory at the King County Sheriff’s office. For example, the report finds, “The Sheriff’s Office does not have adequate internal controls over citations, forfeited vehicles, and reporting on seized and forfeited property.” It also found that the county doesn’t sufficiently track Schedule 3-5 medications at five county-run pharmacies.

Candidates for King County Executive are already diving after the report as a political football to argue that he would stop the bleeding. “I was the first one to call out over a year ago that we needed to force the executive’s office into focusing on nuts and bolts of county government,” says Phillips. He notes that he “raised the roof” two years ago about lack of funding for the expansion of Harborview Hospital on 9th Avenue and Jefferson Street. Phillips said his bill would require interim county executive Kurt Triplett to address the problems described in the report by late August.

County Council Member Dow Constantine issued a statement issued this afternoon: “The ‘circle the wagons’ response to the audit we have seen so far is just the latest example of a recurring pattern of defensiveness and denial,” he said. "As Executive, I will throw open the doors of the government to transparency, reform and innovation - to make sure every dollar is spent wisely." But this may not bode well for either Phillips or Constantine, both Democrats, who both served on the county council during the years studied in this report. However, their opponent, Susan Hutchison, former KIRO anchor and far-right Republican, will no-doubt use the findings to call for a full regime change in the executive's office.