What is a Performance Audit?
What is a Performance Audit?
Performance audits evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of government programs to determine if there are ways of making them work better. We use laws and leading practices as criteria to evaluate City departments, and make recommendations when we find opportunities for improvement. Performance audits answer questions such as: 1) Are programs achieving their intended objectives or outcomes? 2) Are services provided efficiently and/or equitably? 3) Are legal requirements and rules being met? 4) Are programs using evidence-based best practices?
Audit Standards
We follow the Government Auditing Standards issued by the U.S. Comptroller General. These standards require us to have qualified staff members who do in-depth, systematic analyses that are well-documented, objective, and independent. The standards also require our staff to obtain training annually on audit-related topics.
Every three years our office undergoes a peer review by a team of auditors independently selected by the Association of Local Government Auditors to determine if our office operates in compliance with Government Auditing Standards. Our office has consistently passed each peer review since David Jones became City Auditor in 2009.