Losing your own money is bad enough, but losing other people’s money is worse, which is why any agency, public or private, handling public money should be ever conscious of internal theft.
This past Sunday, the Phoenix reported that several area county and municipal governments and school districts were strapped with paying for special audits because money was embezzled from them.
The town of Warner recently was charged $23,880 for a special audit, and the Wagoner School District has a $17,000 bill for a special audit. The district says more charges for the audit are coming.
Government offices may be challenged by low staffing and people who are as enterprising as they are dishonest.
However, those are not excuses for lax accounting and supervision. They are reasons to take even more precautions that all work is checked by someone else.
We appreciate the efforts of State Auditor Steve Burrage to educate government agencies, schools, civic clubs and nonprofit groups how they can reduce the possibility of embezzlement.
We don’t say that you can’t trust anybody, but plenty of checks and balances definitely keep everybody honest.
