Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council oversees the Cascades East Transit regional bus service. COIC was delinquent in filing required financials with the state. 

When nobody is watching the money, when there aren’t adequate checks and balances in place, people in government sometimes shave off some cash for themselves.

The best example locally — or worst depending on how you think about it — was former Deschutes County Sheriff Greg Brown. He was Oregon’s sheriff of the year in 2000. He also took hundreds of thousands of dollars from the county and the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District. He went to prison for it. Curiously, that part of his history is absent from his biography on the county’s History of Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office website.

Financial misconduct and mismanagement of public money are why the state of Oregon requires municipalities, special districts and other government bodies to file financial statements. The level of review required varies with the money involved. For instance, municipalities with expenditures greater than $500,000 are required to submit audited financial statements. Bodies with smaller expenditures can do less.

But every year the Secretary of State puts out a list of delinquent filers. And every year it’s a long list. On this year’s list, we noticed two significant delinquents from Central Oregon: the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council and Central Oregon Law Enforcement Services.

COIC is, as you might guess, a place where various governments work together on regional issues. Its board heard a presentation last week on ways to reduce youth homelessness. It also runs the regional bus system, Cascades East Transit.

When we emailed Tammy Baney, executive director of COIC, she got back to us pronto. COIC’s staff auditor died unexpectedly in November 2020, she told us.

“Long story short, it took us nearly 6 months to find a firm willing to take us (many service districts encountered this after Covid),” Baney wrote in an email. “We started fresh with MSP CPA’s mid 2021, completing 2020 and 2021, with 2022 being finalized in October of 2024. We are currently working on 2023, to be completed by March of 2025, then intend to complete 2024 prior to June 30, 2025. We have filed and have been granted the necessary extensions.”

Central Oregon Law Enforcement Services is a regional, cooperative law enforcement organization that oversees the regional drug enforcement team, Central Oregon Drug Enforcement. There is work being done on its audit.

“Approximately 3 weeks ago members of the Sheriff’s Office Business Unit and myself met with the auditors conducting the audit and were informed that there were additional documents required to complete the audit, which resulted in our audit being delinquent,” Deschutes Undersheriff Paul Garrison told us in an email. “Since that time our Business Unit has been working diligently to supply the documents requested so that we will be in compliance with the audit requirements.”

Delinquent filers of financial documents to monitor public money is a chronic problem in Oregon. Part of the issue can be finding a licensed auditor to do the work. Smaller public agencies can also be juggling many priorities.

The Secretary of State’s Office does try to help agencies know what is expected of them. It sends out information. It is available as a resource. It is the local government’s responsibility, though, to be in compliance with Oregon law. There also can be consequences for not following the law.

“Per statute, we will notify the county to begin dissolution proceedings of certain special districts who fail to file for three consecutive years (ORS 198.345),” Laura Kerns, communication director for the Oregon Secretary of State, told us in an email. In fact, the Secretary of State’s Office sent out 22 warning letters this summer to public bodies and notices to counties.

It shouldn’t get to that point. Oregon needs somebody double checking taxpayer money.

So, dear legislators and Gov. Tina Kotek: This is another example where Oregon government is not working right. What are you going to do about it?

We have no reason to suspect that there’s been any funny business among Oregon’s delinquent filers. We imagine people would have said that about somebody chosen as a sheriff of the year, too.