Local Government

The Auditor of Public Accounts (APA) does not conduct annual audits over local government funds and operations, or their financial statements. Our office only performs limited audit work over state funds handled by local constitutional officers at the cities and counties. In general, the APA does not have authority to perform audits or investigations into concerns over local government processes or how local funds are budgeted and spent. State law would only permit the APA to perform a special audit at the local level in limited circumstances. Since the APA conducts our work under an approved annual workplan, it would take specific legislative action by the General Assembly, with approval by JLARC, to authorize the APA to perform an audit or investigation on the local level.  Please review the About Us page to learn more about the work the APA performs. 

While our office does not conduct the local government audits, we do perform other oversight functions to assist in improving accountability and financial management for Virginia local governments.  This includes issuance of annual specifications that set forth additional requirements unique to local government audits and guidelines to assist local compliance with accounting and reporting requirements. We also perform quality reviews over local audits performed by public accounting firms to ensure the firms’ audit work complies with relevant standards. Further, we provide support for local governments through technical assistance and knowledge sharing opportunities, along with providing various information and resources on this website page to assist with accounting and auditing guidelines and other relevant topics.

For Local Government related inquiries, please email localgovernment@apa.virginia.gov.

You can also reach out directly to our local government team by phone:

  • Laurie Hicks, Director, 804-362-8441
  • Rachel Reamy, Manager, 804-362-8436

Local Government Overview
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2020-2021 Annual Fiscal Distress Monitoring Report as of April 2022

The Virginia Acts of Assembly and Code of Virginia direct the office of the Auditor of Public Accounts (Office) to establish a prioritized early warning system and annually monitor data and information from this system to identify whether a locality may meet the defined criteria for fiscal distress.  As part of this annual fiscal distress monitoring process, the Office analyzes leading financial indicators through ratio analysis using data from each locality’s audited annual financial report.  As a second component of this process, we perform a qualitative analysis to consider demographic and non-financial factors, along with other applicable leading indicators and external information, for any locality whose financial ratio results indicate a need for further review.   The Office performs the annual monitoring process over all cities and counties, and those towns statutorily required to have an annual audit. This report includes the results of our 2020 and 2021 annual monitoring processes.

2020-2021 Annual Fiscal Distress Monitoring Report as of April 2022