THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 8, 1995 TAG: 9504080240
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
The arm of the North Carolina government that keeps other state agencies on their toes has finally got a better grip on the northeast.
State Auditor Ralph Campbell Jr. is expected in town Monday for the official unveiling of his department's ninth field office, which opened this year in the Habit Building downtown.
Campbell's office conducts or oversees financial audits for universities, community colleges, court clerks and all other North Carolina agencies that operate from public funds. Various teams in the office monitor nonprofit organizations, review performances of state programs and follow up on tips of fraud, waste and abuse.
Audit reports on state initiatives are often used by politicians to expand projects or to kill them, and auditors' findings of fault can change the way agencies do business.
The Elizabeth City office, staffed with two auditors and two trainees, will be the new headquarters for audit operations spanning west to Halifax and Bertie counties and east to Dare.
The office is the agency's first satellite to open since the Wilmington branch was christened in 1989. Before the doors were opened, the closest state auditor's office was in Greenville, and many audits were conducted by teams traveling from Raleigh.
``We were beginning to have an awful lot of concerns about the coverage of the entire northeastern part of the state,'' Campbell said Friday. ``We felt we needed to strengthen our coverage in that area.''
By cutting down on travel time and overhead expenses, audit officials said, the office will eventually pay for itself. Auditors also cite intangible advantages that will result from closer contact with agencies in the northeast.
Elizabeth City-based auditors will still spend most of their time on the road, dropping into the office a couple of days each month, Campbell said. The rest of their time will be spent out in the field.
``We will be showing up in some of those counties where we have not been a presence in some time,'' said Assistant State Auditor Bob Slade. ``Being able to have a stable unit out in that vicinity gives us more time to devote to all the auditees in that area.''
The auditors have already been out to Halifax and Roanoke-Chowan community colleges and the Northampton County Clerk of Superior Court, said audit supervisor William S. Styres, head of the new Elizabeth City operation. Other auditing responsibilities, such as Elizabeth City State University and the new Pasquotank County Partnership for Children that administers state Smart Start dollars, will be picked up by the office next year.
Having a field office in Elizabeth City should improve the quality of local audits by providing continuity from year to year, Styres said.
``There will be more consistency,'' he said. ``We'll have the personal experience. We'll know the people.'' ILLUSTRATION: CEREMONY
What: Ribbon-cutting for the Elizabeth City office of the state
auditor
Where: Suite: 9B of the Habit Building, 303 E. Main St., Elizabeth
City
When: Noon Monday
- State Auditor Ralph Campbell Jr.
by CNB