Mayor Brian Treece wants to eliminate the city position of internal auditor and allow the Columbia City Council to use that money to hire an independent contractor to do the work.
Treece proposed the move during the council’s Aug. 20 meeting. He believes having an auditor that answers directly to the council would enable it to make quicker decisions.
The internal city auditor is required to complete a comprehensive analysis of city finances twice a year. The position is currently under the direction of the city manager’s office, but Treece said the council often must wait weeks or months to get financial information it requests.
The job of independent auditor has been vacant for nine months,…
