The Sacramento City Council split with Mayor Kevin Johnson Tuesday on plans to create an independent budget analyst’s office, with eight members of the council in favor of hiring one person who could hold the positions of both city auditor and independent budget analyst. Johnson, meanwhile, backed the idea of forming two distinct offices, with one office for the city auditor and another office for the independent budget analyst.

At issue is a proposal from the Sacramentans for Accountable Government group to create an independent budget analyst’s office. Johnson supports the group’s efforts, which also include a “strong mayor” campaign to allow the mayor of Sacramento to gain more authority. The City Council voted 8-1 to ask city staff to bring back a job description for a city official that would simultaneously be a city auditor and budget analyst.
The city could yield savings and gain efficiency if it can find a candidate who could hold both the city auditor and independent budget analyst positions, Councilmember Steve Cohn said.

Johnson strongly disagreed. By creating two offices, the city would spend a little more money on the front end but potentially save more on the back end, he said. “I think we’ve actually taken a step backwards if you don’t keep the two departments separate,” he said.

The city auditor would analyze the finances of city departments, while the independent budget analyst’s job would be to examine policy decisions in the context of city finances, City Treasurer Russ Fehr said.

The city’s internal auditor position has been vacant since May, when former auditor Marty Kolkin left the post for a new job in Santa Monica. Patti Bisharat, the city’s director of governmental affairs, told the City Council last month that the internal auditor position may not be filled until January 2010 or later.

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.