County Auditor
County Auditor Overview
The County Auditor serves as an independent audit function, reporting to the Arlington County Board with additional guidance from the Audit Committee. The County Auditor conducts independent performance and operational audits of County departments, programs, and services. These audits focus on program efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency.
The County Board appoints the County Auditor under the authority of § 15.2-709.2 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended. The County Board adopted a Board Charge in July 2015 establishing the position, and revised the Board Charge on June 20, 2017 to develop further the role of the County Auditor and the Audit Committee. Each audit will focus primarily on developing, whenever possible, revenue enhancements and costs containment initiatives. Keeping in view, to eliminate the duplicative efforts between the Internal Audit Program under the Department of Management and Finance (DMF) and the County Auditor, the County Auditor will provide an annual report to the Audit Committee summarizing audits completed, major findings and corrective actions taken. Internal controls will only be assessed by the County Auditor when identified as a result of financial and/or programmatic gaps.
Annual Audit Work Plans
The County Board approves the County Auditor’s Annual Audit Work Plan (Work Plan). The Work Plan provides a description of the activities to be performed over the fiscal year. The Work Plan includes a summary of the audits to be performed and a tentative schedule for announcing the audits. The Work Plan is developed by the County Auditor after engaging in discussions with County Board members, management, and Audit Committee members for input. The Work Plan is designed to be flexible to respond to changing needs as they arise. The Work Plan may be altered during the year, in consultation with the County Board, Audit Committee, and County management.
Annual Work Plans are provided below.
Audit Committee
The Audit Committee provides guidance to the County Auditor and the County Board is considering risks that can be addressed in audits of County programs. The Audit Committee, which meets at least quarterly, plays a vital role in advising the County Auditor and the County Board on the Annual Audit Work Plan. The Audit Committee also receives annual updates from the County's Internal Audit function, which resides in the Department of Management and Finance, and receives an annual update regarding the completed annual financial statement audit conducted by the County’s independent external auditor.
Audits Issued
This section contains links to the full audit report, including the management response. In addition, the section provides a quick link to the one page Report Highlights, or shows the Executive Summary of the report. The results of the completed follow-up reviews are also publicly-issued and posted here.
Emergency Communications Center Overtime
Police Department Overtime
Technology Services - Contract Management
Fleet Management
Full Report - Title and Number
Fleet Management Letter Report (Report 2021-02)(PDF, 743KB)
Publication date: 11-24-2021
Executive Summary
This executive report, or “letter report,” summarizes the findings and recommendations from the Arlington County Auditor’s audit of vehicle fleet management within Arlington County. The Equipment Bureau of the Department of Environmental Services (DES) provides fleet management for the County.
The audit resulted in four observations. First, the process for developing the rental book, which is the list of all County and Arlington Public Schools (APS) vehicles with their annual cost and maintenance cost, appears sound. Second, several improvements to the fleet utilization policy were made during the audit and will improve the efficient use and proper sizing of the fleet. Third, an analysis of FY 2018 maintenance work orders showed that timeliness was generally good but that there was room for improvement. Finally, the audit showed the safety processes with the Equipment Bureau were valuable, and that some improvements are needed to support incident prevention. Eight recommendations are provided alongside the four observation areas.
Follow-up
Follow-up status report — Issued 5-27-2022(PDF, 122KB)
Non-Profit Funding
Full Report - Title and Number
Non-Profit Funding Letter Report (Report 2022-01)(PDF, 503KB)
Publication date: 5-30-2022
Executive Summary
This executive report, or “letter report,” summarizes the findings and recommendations from the Arlington County Auditor’s audit of non-profit funding within Arlington County. The purpose of the audit was to answer the question What practices are available for policymakers to make decisions on non-profit funding allocations? The focus on the audit was practices used to award contracts with non-profits who provide human and social services.
The audit resulted in two specific observations. First, there is need for clear strategic priorities to guide policymakers’ non-profit funding allocation decisions. These strategic priorities should be transparent to the community and non-profit partners, focused and measurable, and consistent from year to year. In addition, once these strategic funding priorities are set, the use of non-competitively procured contracts with non-profit partners should be re-evaluated.
Emergency Medical Services
Internal Audit Services
In addition to the County Auditor, there is a County Internal Audit Program, which exists within the Department of Management and Finance (DMF). The Internal Audit Program is a combination of internal audit resources and external consulting services. More information about the Internal Audit program is available on its webpage, including the annual work plan and recent audit reports.
The County Auditor strives to work collaboratively with the DMF Internal Audit Program to reduce duplication of effort and impact. However, a previous audit by the Internal Audit Program does not restrict the County Auditor’s ability to perform an audit in the same area, if deemed necessary and directed by the County Board within the Work Plan.
Arlington Public Schools Internal Auditor
Arlington Public Schools (APS) has an internal auditor, separate from the County Auditor and the DMF Internal Audit Program. The APS Auditor reports to the APS Audit Committee, and ultimately to the APS School Board. This structure was developed to help the Internal Auditor remain independent of APS management. More information about the APS Internal Audit function is available on the APS website including the current Audit Plan and recent APS audits.
The County Auditor does not perform audits of APS programs, except as may be related to ongoing audits of County programs and activities. The Arlington County School Board has a separate Internal Audit function.