Updated: April 9, 2020 Posted: April 9, 2020

JUNEAU – Alaska’s independent financial auditor has discovered loopholes in data security, major gaps in accounting for helping needy families and a 3-year-old with 14 state-paid dental crowns.

But she says the biggest problems with the state’s financial records are things she hasn’t found.

“The Department of Revenue Management denied auditors access to relevant financial records,” Auditor Kris Curtis wrote in an official file last month.

Specifically, the state denied auditors permission to review files associated with an abandoned tax credit program for oil drillers.

“This type of behavior is of great concern to us, because from an audit perspective, you ask yourself: are they providing all the information? She said over the phone.

In addition, former Department of Revenue Commissioner Bruce Tangeman, who resigned at the end of last year, failed to sign a statement confirming that the state’s financial records are accurate.

“From a listener’s perspective, this raises a lot of red flags,” Curtis said.

Curtis was so concerned that his office issued what is known as a “qualified” opinion on state finances for the fiscal year ended July 1, in effect certifying that the audit is only accurate within as far as he can tell.

This could have important implications for the state in the future. The federal government requires states to have their finances independently audited each year in order to remain eligible for aid. Rating agencies use audits to determine if a state is worthy of a loan.

Curtis works for the state Legislative Audit Division, who by law is the independent auditor of the executive branch. State law requires that the division have access to all necessary documents.

Tangeman and current state officials said most of the issues were related to legal disputes that began under Gov. Bill Walker and continued under Gov. Mike Dunleavy. For example, auditors and the executive have disagreed for years over the proper way to handle certain deposits in the state’s constitutional budget reserve, an issue with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake.

Tangeman said his inability to certify state finances was because he was out of state before stepping down in early December and was unaware of the progress of the audit . By the time a state official called him about it, he had already left office and didn’t think it would be appropriate to sign.

Mike Barnhill, who replaced Tangeman on an interim basis, signed a letter but said it only applied to his tenure.

Regarding the tax credit program, state officials say they have provided information about the legal settlements Curtis is seeking, but information about negotiations prior to those settlements is protected by solicitor-client privilege. . Curtis said it was a new change, but the Alaska Department of Laws disagreed.

In a written statement, the ministry said it was “disappointed that the legislative auditor has decided to criticize the law ministry. Contrary to his statements, the Law Department is not aware of any change of opinion or new note mentioned by the legislative auditor.

The ministry statement goes on to say that the state has provided copies of tax regulations to auditors, but “for at least the last two administrations” records covering negotiations leading up to these settlements have been covered by legal privilege. ‘lawyer, and the easing “violate our ethical rules”.