City Auditor

The Austin City Charter requires a city auditor appointed by the City Council. The auditor reports to the City Council via the Audit and Finance Committee. 

See How We Make a Difference

When people hear the word "audit," they may only think of dollars and cents.

Performance Audits

We conduct a different kind of audit called a performance audit. This type of audit helps leaders know what they are doing right and what they can do better. Our audits compare how things are working with how they should work. When there is a difference, we recommend ways to improve. Staff conduct audits that follow government auditing standards.

Each year, we identify what audits we will conduct in our Audit Plan. We rely on input from City leaders and community members to create this plan. We welcome input for our plan and encourage you to make suggestions. Submit your audit idea to us using the button on our home page.

Investigations

Our office has a team that investigates possible wrongdoings in the City. This includes fraud, waste, or abuse by City employees or contractors. Our team works with City departments or law enforcement organizations when necessary. While we do not investigate routine personnel issues, we will send reported issues to someone who can. The City's Human Resources Department handles employee grievances and other employment complaints. To report suspected wrongdoing in the City, please contact our team through the button on our home page.

Redistricting

At the start of each decade, Austin has a process for residents to redraw the boundaries of the council districts every ten years through participation in an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. The Auditor's office leads the City's outreach campaign to encourage residents to apply to serve on the commission and the  Applicant Review Panel. 

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Government Auditing Standards. Our office follows audit standards, so our work is independent and free of bias. These standards inform how we hire and train staff, include requirements for how we do our work, and report results. We also have a formal quality control process that includes many levels of review. Every three years, other auditors audit our process to let us know what we are doing right and what we can do better. These are called Peer Reviews. Auditors at every level of government use these standards to perform their work.

Conducting our Work. For audits, we work with City management and others to understand the subject of the audit. We gather information to compare how things are working with how they should work. When there is a difference, we recommend ways to improve. Audits do not consider all possible issues, but focus on the main issues involved.

For investigations, we receive reports of suspected wrongdoing. Our investigators collect information to answer two questions:

• Is the reported issue something we can investigate? If not, we send the issue to someone who can address it. If so, we move to the second question.
• Is there merit to the reported wrongdoing? If so, we open a case and work with City departments or law enforcement organizations, when necessary.

Communicating the Results of our Work. We publish most of our reports so everyone can see the results of our work. We also present the results of our work at meetings of the Audit and Finance Committee. For confidential audits under State law, we do not publish the results. Instead, we post a notice about what work we did. We also communicate those results to management and Audit and Finance Committee members. Visit our home page to learn more about the committee and our reports.