Reprinted from

Published July 08 2009
Cheers to State Auditor’s office for award
There are a lot of ways local government can save money by using less energy, and the Minnesota State Auditor’s office has now won an award for its detailed report on how to do just that.
 

There are a lot of ways local government can save money by using less energy, and the Minnesota State Auditor’s office has now won an award for its detailed report on how to do just that.

State Auditor Rebecca Otto accepted the “Excellence in Accountability Award” on behalf of the department from the National State Auditors Association.

The Excellence in Accountability Awards are presented annually to recognize government auditing excellence. There are three award categories — large performance audit, small performance audit, and special project.

Minnesota won in the “special project” category, awarded June 18 at NSAA’s annual conference, which was held in Savannah, Georgia.

“This year’s award submissions were all excellent,” commented Thomas McTavish, auditor general of Michigan and chair of the NSAA Excellence in Accountability Awards Committee. “Minnesota’s entry entitled ‘Best Practices Review: Reducing Energy Costs in Local Government’ was clearly an outstanding special project.”

The project was timely given rising energy costs, the growing public awareness concerning energy use, and increased pressure on local officials to save money by using less energy.

The review by the Minnesota State Auditor’s Department was intended to be a resource for local governments to help them make informed decisions about how to reduce energy costs.

The review includes a step-by-step “best practices” process for reducing energy costs and it goes into detail — presenting nine case studies of local governments throughout the state.

In January 2009, the review was used as a template for a statewide conference attended by over 300 local government officials on reducing energy costs in local government.

The review may also play an important role in the use of federal stimulus funds. A bill has been introduced by a Minnesota lawmaker appropriating a portion of the stimulus funds for energy-efficiency projects for local governments.

The report is a good example of innovation within the Minnesota State Auditor’s Department, which produces a number of financial reports on local government.