ESTABLISHING A CITIZENS AUDIT COMMITTEE (CAC)

Taxpayers can have a dramatic impact on local spending, ensuring that municipal government and educational services are delivered in the most cost-effective way, but only if they organize themselves into something we shall refer to as citizens audit committee, or CAC. This is a group of volunteers who can provide independent and objective oversight to budgeting and spending practices by assessing whether there is efficiency, effectiveness, and economy in the use of physical, human and financial resources – and whether elected and appointed officials are being accountable, transparent and responsive to the voting public.

A Citizens Audit Committee can do what school boards and town officials are either unwilling to do for political reasons or unable to do because of a lack of skill, information, and time.

A CAC accomplishes its mission by reviewing and analyzing operations, procedures, practices, and policies to determine whether any recommendations for improvement would enhance the allocation of available resources. All the documents and data needed to perform the tasks required are in the public domain.Because of massive fraud uncovered years ago in the affluent Long Island community of Roslyn, New York legislated the establishment of audit committees in all of the state’s school districts beginning in 2006. That said, there is no legal impediment to establishing a citizens audit committee anywhere in the United States – nor is the support of town and/or school officials necessary. But every effort should be made by an audit committee to seek the support of local officials.

Getting Started

A few interested citizens, or a more formal body such as a taxpayer group, can form a committee. The simplest procedure is to send out a news release to the local press, announcing a committee is being organized and inviting citizens to attend an orientation meeting at a predetermined location and date to learn more and decide if they want to participate.

New Britain has a Citizens Property Owners Association, and Berlin did have a Citizens Property Owners Association, too, some years ago.  Although there are many similarities, a CAC is more formal in structure, having a charter, following guidelines recommended by other Citizens Audit Committees, excluding employees of the town or school from membership, conducting meetings not open to the public, etc.