How the Kane County Auditor Works For You
Kane is the fifth largest county in Illinois with a population in excess of 515,000 according to the most recent census. Illinois statutes provide that counties with a population over 75,000 elect a County Auditor for very good reason. As Kane County's only independently elected officer responsible for evaluating and reporting on County operations, the County Auditor examines how and where County money is spent, and how efficiently County departments are operating. The technical duties are defined in the state statutes and the county code, but my most important function is to be your financial advocate. My office will work on your behalf to provide financial OVERSIGHT, INSIGHT, and FORESIGHT to the County Chairman, the Board, other elected County Officers and department heads.
As examples the Kane County Auditor:
Reviews all County Expenditures - The County Auditor examines all bills to be paid by the County to determine that the expenditures are bona fide. The Kane County operating general fund budget for fiscal year 2013 is over $74,000,000 and the adopted budget across all funds is nearly $232,000,000. Why is that important to you? Every dime of that is taxpayer money.
Reports on Kane County Finances - The County Auditor issues quarterly financial reports to the County Board. He also provides the Board Chairman with detailed bi-weekly reports of all claims paid during the two week period which identify the creditor, department or official who purchased the product or service, the fund from which the payment was made, the amount and date of the payment.
Monitors your Tax Dollars - The County Auditor, County Clerk, and the County IT department are in the process of jointly developing a state of the art contract management system to maintain a complete and comprehensive record of all County contracts that will be coded to ensure subsequent monitoring for compliance.
Improves Operations through Internal Audits - The County Auditor performs independent internal audits of County departments to identify ways of providing Kane taxpayers with better services and improved controls at less cost. Through the use of an annual comprehensive Auditing Plan and Risk Analysis we can identify and prioritize those audits. Put simply, every internal audit is designed to answer questions that you, the taxpayer, would ask: (a) What is the department supposed to accomplish? (b) What is the department actually accomplishing? (c) Do records and procedures exist to properly control the operations? and (d) Can the department's methods of operation be improved?
Enhances Transparency with Innovation - The County Auditor will work collaboratively with the Treasurer and Finance Director to make our financial information even more readily available and user friendly. The Kane County Access to Accountability project will put Kane County at the head of the class as a single, comprehensive, user-friendly resource for a wide range of financial information in a truly transparent format.
Conserves your Tax Money - The County Auditor will enhance the performance of the office through increased use of pre-emptive forensic auditing techniques to identify potential weaknesses and make recommendations for corrections before they become actual problems as part of our ongoing commitment to the taxpayers of Kane County.
I am honored to serve as your Kane County Auditor.
Sincerely,
Kane County Auditor