History & Former Auditors
Vermont has had some form of an Auditor since shortly after the creation of the Vermont Republic in 1777. Serving as the state’s fiscal watchdog, the auditor has also strongly influenced the shaping of Vermont’s government. One of the first Auditors, Isaac Tichenor, publicly criticized Ira Allen for his financial practices during the American Revolution. Such criticism resulted in a 1786 amendment to the Republic’s Constitution, mandating that the Treasurer’s accounts be audited, recorded, and presented to the General Assembly annually.
While the 1786 provision could be satisfied without extensive legislation – auditors were employed within the Treasurer’s Office – an act of the General Assembly created the independent Auditor of Accounts office. The person serving in this capacity was appointed on an annual basis by a joint ballot of the executive and legislative bodies. Following the 1836 reform that replaced the Governor’s Council with a 30-member Senate, the appointment was transferred to a joint vote of the two legislative bodies.
A second substantial reform of government occurred in the mid-19th century. Following the abolishment of the Council of Censors and the emergence of direct popular Constitutional reform in 1870, the Auditor’s position, along with the Secretary of State shifted from a legislative appointment to a biennial vote by the people, on the same ballot as the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Treasurer. The only auditor to be appointed to a first term since this reform was Alexander V. Acebo, following the death of his predecessor, Robert King, in 1970.
In the first quarter of the 20th century, the auditor’s responsibilities were extensive. As a member of the Court of Claims (created 1902, Act 38), the Auditor decided which monetary claims against the State would be honored. The Auditor also decided what the requirements were for an accountant to become certified (State Board of Accountancy, created 1912, Act 257), and influenced the budget that a State entity would be appropriated (Committee on Budget, created 1915, Act 26). The creation of the Board of Control in 1917 further confirmed the Auditor’s importance, with powers such as review of officials appointed by the Governor, and scrutiny and approval of how recipients of State aid spent those monies.
In 1916, the Burlington Free Press went so far as to comment that “the State auditor is the most important officer in [Vermont].” With that kind of sentiment existing about the Auditor, it was a catastrophic ordeal when Governor Horace F. Graham, the auditor from 1902 – 1917, was indicted in 1919 on over 160 counts of larceny and embezzlement charges stemming from his term as Auditor of Accounts.
Although Graham was ultimately found guilty on 56 counts of larceny, he testified in his own defense that a key practice in question, that is, fronting personal funds to State agencies and subsequently drawing orders to reimburse himself was a common practice with prior auditors. To ensure such an incident could not happen again, a law was passed that barred the Auditor from authorizing payments from the Treasury unless they had been previously appropriated by an act of the General Assembly (Act 7, §27 of 1923).
This act had several other implications for the Auditor. With its passage, several responsibilities of Auditor Benjamin Gates, who served from 1917 – 1941, were diverted to other departments (§§ 2.1, 18, 19, 24 – 26, 40), leaving Gates with few tasks beyond the Constitutional provision of 1786.
Finally, Act 7 called for the centralization of government, mandating that several key offices, including the Auditor’s, have year-round locations in Montpelier (§ 35). While an office was provided for the Auditor in the State House as early as 1842, it was common practice for the Auditor to work out of his home when the Legislature was not in session. The first Auditor to have a year-round office in Montpelier was Horace Graham, starting in 1906.
The Auditor had a main office on the 2nd floor of the Pavilion Building (corner of State St. and Gov. Davis Ave), and a satellite office within the Treasurer’s department at 133 State St. through the 1980s, at which point the office was consolidated into its present location at 132 State Street.
Many of the duties that the Auditor has today were outlined in Act 328 of 1960. This reformation followed the Little Hoover Commission’s report in January 1959 that criticized Vermont’s overly large state government. Today, the Auditor’s office provides oversight on the accounts and financial reporting procedures of state government, whose expenditures were approximately $4.0 billion in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006.
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