STATE News:

ALBUQUERQUE – State Auditor Brian Colón today issued the following statement regarding the City of Santa Fe:

“As State Auditor oversight is one of the critical roles I direct. The troubling pattern of late audits by the City of Santa Fe has had my utmost attention and concern and in April 2022 I committed to providing enhanced oversight as the City continued to struggle in meeting its statutory obligations.

“I want to be clear; the Office of the State Auditor has no executive authority over the entities we audit, we are strictly an oversight agency. When the City management failed to make the decision to seek guidance and assistance, after repeated warnings from me, I engaged the Department of Finance and Administration’s Local Government Division to provide the guidance and assistance the City so urgently required.

“As State Auditor I have done everything within my power to drive transparency and hold the City of Santa Fe accountable. At the end of the day, the responsibility to correct the controls and submit timely audit reports falls on City leadership.

“I am cautiously optimistic that after our intervention the City is now taking the concerns seriously, but as demonstrated by the newly presented audit timeline, they continue to have much work to do.”