Post by Logan on Apr 22, 2016 3:45:51 GMT -6
Heated words exchanged over ND's Trust Lands department audits
BISMARCK – Unflattering audits of North Dakota’s Department of Trust Lands sparked heated words Thursday from state Land Commissioner Lance Gaebe, the lead auditor and a member of the legislative committee that ordered the audits, who told Gaebe, “I don’t accept the excuses.”
Gaebe defended the department to the Legislative Audit and Fiscal Review Committee during a grueling five-hour discussion of three separate audits that uncovered bookkeeping errors, raised ethical concerns and identified shortcomings in how the agency handled the state’s oil impact grant and unclaimed property programs.
Gaebe acknowledged “we’ve made mistakes” and said he had hoped the 16-month audit process would lead to constructive suggestions for solutions.
“However, at the end of a long costly process we received generalized, subjective recommendations, and a collection of highlighted unintentional errors and oversights assembled to present a characterization that the department lacks accountability and that its staff does not recognize its responsibilities,” he said in written testimony.
Read more: www.inforum.com/news/4015283-heated-words-exchanged-over-nds-trust-lands-department-audits
BISMARCK – Unflattering audits of North Dakota’s Department of Trust Lands sparked heated words Thursday from state Land Commissioner Lance Gaebe, the lead auditor and a member of the legislative committee that ordered the audits, who told Gaebe, “I don’t accept the excuses.”
Gaebe defended the department to the Legislative Audit and Fiscal Review Committee during a grueling five-hour discussion of three separate audits that uncovered bookkeeping errors, raised ethical concerns and identified shortcomings in how the agency handled the state’s oil impact grant and unclaimed property programs.
Gaebe acknowledged “we’ve made mistakes” and said he had hoped the 16-month audit process would lead to constructive suggestions for solutions.
“However, at the end of a long costly process we received generalized, subjective recommendations, and a collection of highlighted unintentional errors and oversights assembled to present a characterization that the department lacks accountability and that its staff does not recognize its responsibilities,” he said in written testimony.
Read more: www.inforum.com/news/4015283-heated-words-exchanged-over-nds-trust-lands-department-audits