Rebecca Otto wins national award for Excellence in Accountability
State Auditor report contains “some of the most innovative thinking” in U.S.
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| Minnesota State Auditor Rebecca Otto has emerged as a national leader in innovation and accountability |
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News Release | June 16, 2009
WASHINGTON - The nonpartisan National State Auditors Association (NSAA) has awarded the Best Practices Review: Reducing Energy Costs in Local Government issued by State Auditor Rebecca Otto its prestigious 2009 NSAA Excellence in Accountability Award.
“NSAA is privileged to recognize some of the most innovative thinking in the current state auditing environment,” said Tom McTavish, Michigan’s Auditor General and Chair of the NSAA Excellence in Accountability Awards Committee.
“In the current economic climate, and the Obama Administration’s focus on renewable energy and energy conservation, this Review is very timely,” said State Auditor Rebecca Otto.
“Local government budgets are tight, and many state budgets are in deficit. This makes reducing energy costs for the thousands of local governments across Minnesota - and states all across the nation - even more important.”
The thousands of local governments in Minnesota constitute a very large energy footprint. Reducing energy costs at the local government level can have a major impact on the environment and on Minnesota taxpayers' pocketbooks.
The Review is also useful to businesses and homeowners. It is chock full of informational resources and organizations to get assistance from for your own next green energy project.
From solar to geothermal, the latest info is there.
The Review is designed to assist local officials in making informed decisions to reduce energy costs.
It provides recommendations for steps to best practices, and cost/benefit analyses on different types of technologies and services to reduce energy costs.
The Review is also designed to be easy to use for local governments. The online version has a user-friendly feature: It is interactive.
“When we surveyed local governments for this Review, they reported that an obstacle to reducing energy costs is financial resources. The Review has live links that get them directly to financial resources. We get them to the green,” said State Auditor Otto.
The Award will be presented at the 2009 NSAA Annual Conference in Savannah, Georgia in June.
The Best Practices Review can be found online at: http://www.auditor.state.mn.us/default.aspx?page=20080702.001
The Office of the State Auditor is a constitutional office that is charged with overseeing more than $20 billion spent annually by local governments in Minnesota. The Office of the State Auditor does this by performing audits of local government financial statements, and by reviewing documents, data, reports, and complaints reported to the Office. The financial information collected from local governments is analyzed and is the basis of statutory reports issued by the Office of the State Auditor.