Regular ‘checkups’ help agency work as intended
Some years ago, there was a very successful ad campaign for a product that used the tag line “You can pay a little now, or a lot later.” Admittedly, it’s a slogan that’s been so overused it’s almost a cliche. However, this phrase still provides a great deal of common sense and more than a little truth. Those charged with handling public funds would do well to follow its intent.
At the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC), we have seen first-hand the effectiveness of being proactive when it comes to the millions of dollars that flow through this agency as it works to protect the public interest and foster economic development in its regulation of the energy, transportation and utility sectors.
In 2013, we asked the state auditor and inspector to embed auditors within the agency to not only take an initial look at our processes, but to stay here and continue to work to help us improve. In addition, regular audits (performance, financial and operational) as well as grant reviews have been ongoing and performed by various entities, including independent accounting firms, the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, the Department of Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency, the International Fuel Tax Agreement Program Compliance Review Committee, the Federal Highway Administration and others.
In the past 10 years, the commission has had 16 independent accounting firms and review boards perform 27 financial audits, nine operational audits, 31 performance audits and 33 federal grant reviews. The OCC spent about $650,000 in agency funds since 2007 as part of this effort, a tiny fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars protected by the audits and reviews. As of this writing, only two findings are still pending resolution; one requires action by the Legislature, the other requires additional funding.
The “pending resolution” items show just how effective a robust accountability effort can be. Just as annual physicals can result in identification and treatment of relatively small medical problems before they become life-threatening, so too do all these “checkups” of agency business. Our work is ongoing, as the agency’s fiscal health is vital in providing necessary services to the public and ensuring the OCC can meet its constitutional and statutory responsibilities.
Murphy is chairwoman of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.