Did you know today is dedicated to highlighting civics education and engagement? Learn more from WA Office of the Secretary of State webpage.

Teambuilding. Training. Transparency. Our latest e-newsletter includes great info pertaining to them all—and more. Check it out and click on the ‘Join our Email List’ button at the top to subscribe: https://conta.cc/48Z0D6T

There's A LOT to learn when a new government official first takes office. Where to begin? Glad you asked. Our recently updated blog post includes some great guidance and key resources for new and seasoned elected and appointed officials alike.

Today's number of 47 represents the number of Use of Deadly Force Investigation audits our Office published in fiscal year 2025. Learn more how our Office is leading the nation in systematically reviewing every local investigation into police use of deadly force: https://ow.ly/hzYq50XSzIj

Local government meets AI in this podcast from Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL).

ICYMI: Last month SAO's own Brenton Clark had an article published in the Association of Local Government Auditors (ALGA) Quarterly focused on community compensation policy. Thank you for sharing your expertise, Brenton! #GoodGovernment

What do local governments think of our free, award-winning cyber checkup service? Hear what the City of Port Townsend's Network Administrator, David Olsen, had to say in our latest podcast episode.

State Auditor Pat McCarthy has released a statement that addresses child care subsidies, in response to several inquiries our Office has received this week from the media and the public regarding this issue and allegations of fraud. Read more on our blog: https://ow.ly/AmCU50XTeZV

More than $25,000 of travel reimbursement misappropriation is at the heart of a fraud investigation report our Office published late last month. Learn more: https://ow.ly/QRqI50XRcVb

Today's number of 2,967 represents how many audits our Office published in fiscal year 2025—we've been busy! Learn how we provided accountability and transparency of public funds in our at-a-glance summary of work for the year: https://ow.ly/QFtA50XSzm0

Calling all school districts! Sign up today for WASBO’s online 2026 Grants Workshop including SAO’s Single Audit Specialist, Felicia DenAdel. This workshop will help you build a strong foundation for success and strengthen your district’s internal controls. Learn more: https://ow.ly/VKfo50XL6Rc

Pretrial services offer an alternative to bail but they haven't been widely adopted by courts in our state. We wanted to know why. Tune in this Wednesday and see what our performance auditors found out: https://ow.ly/Bzmv50XQLWs

See how one local government improved its efficiency and effectiveness thanks to our free Lean services in this episode of our Aud Pod podcast. Then, head over to our website to learn more and sign up for your own customized workshop today: https://sao.wa.gov/improving-government/lean-services

In honor of National Trivia Day on Jan. 4 we thought we'd drop this fun fact: Did you know in fiscal year 2025 our Office completed 2,967 audits? Learn more about our accomplishments during the year and get ready to impress at your next party: https://ow.ly/LXVA50XNkZi

Chelan County falls down on state audit duties www.ncwlife.com/news/videos/... You can find our latest published report for Chelan County on our website: portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch...

We appreciate serving the public, and look forward to promoting accountability and transparency in government during the year ahead! For a glimpse of our work in fiscal year 2025, check out at-a-glance summary: https://ow.ly/FLLI50XNkTX

Shout out to all of our generous SAOers who donated gifts and money to benefit three local families in need! Working with ROOF Community Services and Family Education and Support Services, we helped make the holidays a bit brighter for some truly deserving people. #HappyHolidays

Calling all school districts! Sign up today for WASBO’s online 2026 Grants Workshop including SAO’s Single Audit Specialist, Felicia DenAdel. This workshop will help you build a strong foundation for success and strengthen your district’s internal controls. Learn more: https://ow.ly/VKfo50XL6Rc

Counting Down the Five Most Popular SAO Blog Posts of 2025…coming in at number 1 is what you might call a two-fer fraud investigation story that details misappropriation of public funds in a pair of small towns. There are important lessons to be learned here.

How many audits will we complete before the New Year? Check back on our homepage to find out: https://sao.wa.gov

“I am proud of everyone in our Office for their energy and passion for the important work we do. We advance our shared values of transparency and accountability, and I believe we embrace the same hopes for the New Year: peace, joy and a brighter future for us all.” —State Auditor Pat McCarthy

We appreciate this news from @atg.wa.gov. Our Office examined this issue a while back and published a performance audit with results and recommendations. You can view our report here: sao.wa.gov/reports-data...

Counting Down the Five Most Popular SAO Blog Posts of 2025…coming in at number 2 is a popular infographic summarizing the state’s financial position for 2024. It’s got numbers, graphs, charts and more!

On behalf of State Auditor Pat McCarthy and our Office, congratulations to the City of Oak Harbor for receiving a State Auditor’s Stewardship Award! We appreciate the dedication shown by City staff and leadership to be good stewards of public funds. #GoodGovernment

SAO's Aud Pod podcast is the gift that keeps on giving! Check out some of our episodes from 2025 on Spotify or where you get your favorite podcasts: https://ow.ly/MPnY50XH2nL

Thanks to Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) for this page of resources for people affected by natural disasters. #GoodGovernment

Thank you to the Puget Sound Finance Officers Association (PSFOA) for hosting its annual holiday luncheon last week and having State Auditor Pat McCarthy as the featured speaker! We appreciate the chance to celebrate with our partners in #GoodGovernment!

Our gift to you: publicly available financial data for more than 2,000 local governments, all wrapped up in one handy place: our Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT). Check out this short video to learn more then head over to sao.wa.gov/FIT and start exploring!

Pretrial services such as electronic home monitoring offer an alternative to incarceration for people awaiting trial outside jail. How well do these services work? What barriers do jurisdictions face in using them? We sought to find out in our latest performance audit.

Thank you @oicwa.bsky.social for these helpful hints and other information to assist Washingtonians affected by the recent flooding. We appreciate your partnership in #GoodGovernment.

It's time for another SAO custom Wordle puzzle! Today's clue: "It's who we serve."

View our openings and apply today: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/washington/sao

Now streaming: SAO’s latest performance audit presentation, evaluating if charter schools appropriately identify and support at-risk students. What did they find? Tune in and find out!

Counting Down the Five Most Popular SAO Blog Posts of 2025…coming in at number 3 is a must-read for local governments subject to a federal single audit. It includes tips on pitfalls to sidestep and a link to one of our most popular related resources.

https://youtu.be/PNTFA37tRr4 How do we decide what topics to explore for our performance audits? Glad you asked! Check out this video in which Justin Stowe, SAO’s Asst. Director of Performance Audit, gives an overview of our process and resulting workplan for the 2025-27 biennium. #GoodGovernment

Thank you to Whitworth University for having SAO’s fraud prevention specialist Alex Lycan (pictured) and Assistant State Auditor Dylan Wharton (behind the camera) on campus! We appreciate the opportunity to discuss our work with students. Learn more about careers here: https://ow.ly/HzHt50XCfBe

Looking to add to your winter reading list? Our recently published fraud investigation report tells the story of a small-town multi-scheme misappropriation totaling more than $75,000. Download it today: https://ow.ly/g3vW50XAchG

Counting Down the Five Most Popular SAO Blog Posts of 2025…coming in at number 4 is a helpful article highlighting critical items to look for in your aging A/R report. Read it today—it may save you a headache tomorrow.

Rules for SLFRF funds are changing! See how it affects your local government in our blog post (or if you just want to know what SLFRF stands for).

There's A LOT to learn when a new government official first takes office. Where to begin? Glad you asked. Our recently updated blog post includes some great guidance and key resources for new and seasoned elected and appointed officials alike.

See how the city of Monroe learned to be Lean with free process-improvement services from our Office in this two-page Lean case study (PDF): https://ow.ly/g3rB50XxG76 See how we can help your government improve its operations: https://ow.ly/oLTU50XxG72

ICYMI: You can find our published fraud investigation report as cited in this story by Tri-City Herald on our website: https://ow.ly/hQS450XFX0K

Click. Learn. Repeat. Washington Association of County Officals makes it easy with their Education Hub: https://countyofficials.org/197/Education-Hub

Counting Down the Five Most Popular SAO Blog Posts of 2025…coming in at number 5 is a summary about one of our performance audits that really resonated with Washingtonians. Learn more and see how it may affect you or people you know.

https://youtu.be/58IwmUJ7YZA A recent episode of our Aud Pod podcast focuses on free cyber checkups offered by SAO's Center for Government Innovation designed to help local governments improve their cyber health. Learn more, listen up and follow along on our YouTube podcast channel today.

SAO's Financial Intelligence Tool is the Tool that Rules!

ICYMI: Fraud Awareness Week (Nov. 16-22, 2025) was officially recognized by Gov. Bob Ferguson! Fighting fraud is a 24-7-365 job (366 during Leap Year) so we encourage governments to take advantage of our free online fraud prevention resources: https://ow.ly/ImzR50XA9pV

Do our state's charter schools make the grade when it comes to identifying and serving at-risk students? See what our performance auditors found out when we present our latest work to lawmakers this Wednesday, Dec. 3, via TVW livestream: https://ow.ly/hHfM50Xx5Ck

In the spirit of togetherness, kindness and appreciation, we wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

Thank you to Washington State Association of Counties for having SAO’s Lean expert, Cami Jones, at the County Leaders Conference earlier this month! Cami’s presentation focused on strategies governments can use to help boost efficiency. Learn more: https://ow.ly/WwQL50XuswQ