Group circulates petition to audit Columbia

A group has started the process of circulating a petition in support of auditing the City of Columbia, according to the State Auditor’s Office.

The group has been given a petition signature form, which is used for collecting signatures. They’ll have to get 5,000 signatures from registered voters in the city within one year before the office will consider an audit.

“The estimated cost, which is included on the signature form, is $500,000-$750,000,” said Steph Deidrick, the press secretary for the auditor’s office.

The group Performance Audit Support posted on its Facebook page that it needs the signatures by Nov. 1, 2019.

According to the group’s Facebook page, the following are the main concerns for the audit:

“1) The city is between city Manager’s at this time. A review of policies, practices, and procedure will help the interim City Manager and a new city manager to identify where improvements are needed.
2) The FAAC (Finance and Audit Committee) has requested copied of Finance policies. since 2014, we have received four.
3) Our public employees are not being paid commensurate with their work requirements and experience. We are losing critically needed and experienced staff.
4) It is concerning that the Finance Dept. has been without a Treasurer since 2016, without a Finance Director, inadequate budget analysts.
5) Transparency is sorely lacking.
6) Council directives have been ignored or poorly answered.”

ABC 17 News has reached out to the group Thursday morning and has not heard back. Sign up for email news alerts by clicking here