MINUTES OF THE
LEGISLATIVE AUDIT SUBCOMMITTEE
Tuesday, December 13, 2022 • 4:00 p.m. • 445 State Capitol


Members Present:
President J. Stuart Adams, Co-chair
Speaker Brad R. Wilson, Co-chair
Sen. Karen Mayne
Sen. Evan J. Vickers
Rep. Brian S. King
Rep. Mike Schultz

Staff Present:
Kade R. Minchey, Auditor General
Debbie Clawson, Administrative Assistant

Note: A copy of related materials and an audio recording of the meeting can be found at www.le.utah.gov.
President Adams called the meeting to order.
MOTION:Speaker Wilson moved to approve the minutes of the November 15, 2022 meeting.The motion passed with a vote of 5-0-1.
Yeas - 5Nays- 0Abs- 1
Sen. J. Adams
Sen. K. Mayne
Rep. M. Schultz
Sen. E. Vickers
Rep. B. Wilson
Rep. B. King
1.Audit Report Presentations
Ms. Leah Blevins, Audit Manager, introduced A Performance Audit of Utah's Election System and Controls (Report #2022-17).
A Performance Audit of Utah's Election System and Controls (Report #2022-17)
Mr. Jake Dinsdale, Audit Supervisor, presented the findings of the audit.
Ms. Blevins responded to a question from President Adams asking for clarification of election oversight and enforcement powers of the Lieutenant Governor.
Ms. Blevins responded to a question from President Adams regarding the credibility of internal audits vs external audits.
Mr. Dinsdale responded to a question from Representative Schultz regarding whether the recommendations made in the report are changes that the Lieutenant Governor's Office has already made or if they are in addition to those.
Ms. Blevins responded to a question from Speaker Wilson asking for understanding of Chapter 3 as to why there might be more ballots than votes processed, or more votes than ballots processed.
Mr. Dinsdale gave further clarification to Speaker Wilson's question.
Mr. Dinsdale responded to a question from Representative King about whether there were any voters that were intending to vote for candidate A, and whose votes instead were tabulated as a vote for candidate B.
Ms. Blevins responded to a question from Representative King asking if there were any instances where votes cast for a candidate were not counted at all.
Representative King commented that what we are looking for is a transparent process of auditing, and validating any discrepancies in a way that creates higher levels of confidence.
Mr. Minchey responded to Representative King's comments.
President Adams expressed appreciation for the work of the Lieutenant Governor and also for the work of the county clerks.
Ms. Diedre Henderson, Lieutenant Governor, responded to the findings of the audit.
Senator Vickers complimented everyone that has been involved in this audit, and recommended as we go forward that the Legislature consider putting together a team to work with clerks and the Lieutenant Governor's office to make sure we are addressing those things in an appropriate and timely manner.
Ms. Henderson responded to a question from Representative Schultz regarding whether the things they have put in place would make a difference in getting the votes cast and votes counted to be the same.
Mr. Ryan Cowley, Director of Elections, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, gave further clarification to the question from Representative Schultz.
Mr. Ryan Cowley responded to a question from Representative Schultz asking whether anything had been done to address the issue of the seven counties that did not use the database to make sure voters weren't registered or voting in other states.
Ms. Henderson also responded to the question from Representative Schultz.
Representative Schultz thanked the Lieutenant Governor and Mr. Cowley for their work on this and his gratitude that they are supportive of the recommendations, and is looking forward to working with them to get these implemented.
President Adams expressed appreciation to the great work that is being done, and also to the auditors as we continue to make our process better.
Speaker Wilson commented on the importance of working collaboratively with the Lieutenant Governor's office to put in place policy that makes sense and is workable.
MOTION:Speaker Wilson moved to refer A Performance Audit of Utah's Election System and Controls to the Government Operations Standing Committees (both House and Senate) coming up in this session as the Lead Committees, and the House Political Subdivisions Standing Committee as the Review Committee.The motion passed with a vote of 5-0-1.
Yeas - 5Nays- 0Abs- 1
Sen. J. Adams
Rep. B. King
Rep. M. Schultz
Sen. E. Vickers
Rep. B. Wilson
Sen. K. Mayne
Mr. Kade Minchey, Auditor General, introduced An In-Depth Budget Review of the Salt Lake City School District (Report #2022-16).
An In-Depth Budget Review of the Salt Lake City School District (Report #2022-16)
Mr. Christopher McClelland, Audit Supervisor, presented the findings of the audit.
President Adams stopped the presentation of the audit in order to make two motions that needed to be done before one of the members of the committee had to leave early.
MOTION:Speaker Wilson moved to refer An In-Depth Budget Review of the Salt Lake City School District to the Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee as the Lead Committee as the Lead Committee and the Education Standing Committees as the Review Committees.The motion passed with a vote of 5-0-1.
Yeas - 5Nays- 0Abs- 1
Sen. J. Adams
Rep. B. King
Rep. M. Schultz
Sen. E. Vickers
Rep. B. Wilson
Sen. K. Mayne
2.Prioritization of Audits
MOTION:Speaker Wilson moved to prioritize the following audits and give flexibility to the Auditor General to begin the audits as staff expertise and resources become available:-An In-Depth Budget Review of the Park City School District;-An In-Depth Budget Review of the Department of Commerce; and-A Performance Audit of B&C Roads Funds.The motion passed with a vote of 5-0-1.
Yeas - 5Nays- 0Abs- 1
Sen. J. Adams
Rep. B. King
Rep. M. Schultz
Sen. E. Vickers
Rep. B. Wilson
Sen. K. Mayne
3.Audit Report Presentations
Mr. McClelland resumed presenting the audit.
Mr. McClelland responded to a question from President Adams regarding why Parkview Elementary is performing significantly above that of similar Title I schools with similar demographics.
Mr. Minchey also commented on the question from President Adams.
President Adams commented that sometimes audits are looked at as a way to show lack of performance but this audit is showing how good Parkview Elementary is, and we should recognize this school, as that is a real positive thing.
Mr. McClelland responded to a question from President Adams regarding higher per pupil revenue stream because property tax is not tied to the pupil count.
Mr. Minchey responded to comments from President Adams regarding his two concerns: the disproportionate amount of property tax the Salt Lake School District gets; and his concern about the declining enrollment and the social impacts of possible students that are choosing not to come back to school after the pandemic.
Mr. McClelland also responded to comments from President Adams.
Mr. Alan Kearsley, Business Administrator, Salt Lake City School District responded to the findings of the audit.
Ms. Kristina Kindl, Executive Director, Policy and Legal Services, Salt Lake City School District, responded to the findings of the audit
Ms. Kindl responded to a question from Speaker Wilson on how the District views Parkview Elementary School and its performance relative to the rest of the District, and replicating that across the other elementary schools.
Mr. Kearsley responded to a question from Speaker Wilson regarding the utilization of schools with the declining enrollment.
Speaker Wilson commented that the audit shows some of the challenges and concerns that the District has and points out a lot of opportunity for the school board to think differently about their role and to focus on outcomes for students in a different way. This audit does not reflect well on the Salt Lake City School District, and hopefully we can work on these challenges together.
Representative King echoed the Speaker's comments that there are some concerning findings in the audit, and expressed his appreciation for the District's receptiveness to those recommendations and findings and their willingness to work on them.
President Adams commended the District for their efforts but said they can do better, and expressed a hope to be able to help them do that and be part of the solution.
4.Other Items/Adjourn
MOTION:Speaker Wilson moved to adjourn. The motion passed with a vote of 3-0-3.
Yeas - 3Nays- 0Abs- 3
Sen. J. Adams
Rep. B. King
Rep. B. Wilson
Sen. K. Mayne
Rep. M. Schultz
Sen. E. Vickers