State auditor briefs Appropriations Committee on SARF funding, audits and performance measurement work
January 31, 2026 | Appropriations, SENATE, Committees, Legislative , Vermont
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The State Auditor (referred to in committee as "Mr. Harper") told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Jan. 30 that the auditor's office budget is modest, largely funded through an internal service fund called the SARF, and contains no federal funding.
"Our budget, as is always the case, is pretty straightforward. There's nothing fancy," Mr. Harper said in testimony. He noted the office’s general fund ask is now under $300,000 after repurposing an exempt position into a classified senior auditor post to strengthen investigatory capacity.
Mr. Harper summarized recent audit work, citing audits of the BGS energy program and reviews of consumer-complaint systems at the Department of Health, the Public Service Department and the Department of Financial Regulation. He told the committee that two of the complaint programs performed well on balance while the Department of Health’s program showed room for improvement.
On grant awards and eligibility, Mr. Harper described methodological improvements enabled by more capable tax-department systems. He said those systems can now support finer "but-for" analyses to determine whether applicants would have received growth absent the grant and suggested the joint fiscal committee should review the methodology used to size awards.
Mr. Harper also emphasized the auditor office’s work on performance measurement. He described evaluating six economic development programs and finding that some programs report output that is not followed up with real performance tracking; the auditor signaled potential future audits focused on measuring outcomes rather than outputs.
Committee members thanked Mr. Harper and wished him well in his planned retirement; the hearing closed without formal votes on the auditor’s request.
What’s next: The office will circulate pending reports described in testimony and the legislature will consider the auditor’s budget request as part of its appropriation cycle.
"Our budget, as is always the case, is pretty straightforward. There's nothing fancy," Mr. Harper said in testimony. He noted the office’s general fund ask is now under $300,000 after repurposing an exempt position into a classified senior auditor post to strengthen investigatory capacity.
Mr. Harper summarized recent audit work, citing audits of the BGS energy program and reviews of consumer-complaint systems at the Department of Health, the Public Service Department and the Department of Financial Regulation. He told the committee that two of the complaint programs performed well on balance while the Department of Health’s program showed room for improvement.
On grant awards and eligibility, Mr. Harper described methodological improvements enabled by more capable tax-department systems. He said those systems can now support finer "but-for" analyses to determine whether applicants would have received growth absent the grant and suggested the joint fiscal committee should review the methodology used to size awards.
Mr. Harper also emphasized the auditor office’s work on performance measurement. He described evaluating six economic development programs and finding that some programs report output that is not followed up with real performance tracking; the auditor signaled potential future audits focused on measuring outcomes rather than outputs.
Committee members thanked Mr. Harper and wished him well in his planned retirement; the hearing closed without formal votes on the auditor’s request.
What’s next: The office will circulate pending reports described in testimony and the legislature will consider the auditor’s budget request as part of its appropriation cycle.
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