With our nearly 50 years of combined experience serving as your Lewis County auditor, we know what it takes to do the job and do it well.
That is why we have both endorsed Mitchell Merrill for county auditor.
The position requires a strong understanding of finance. Merrill is a CPA and has an MBA. Merrill has experience with financial statements, payroll and accounts payable. His qualifications and experience will enable him to provide exceptional financial advice to the Board of County Commissioners.
Recently, in a community forum on Facebook, someone asked, “What exactly does the county auditor do?” The answers varied greatly, but many were incorrect.
The auditor does not assess your property value. That is done by the county assessor. The auditor does not collect your property taxes. That is done by the county treasurer.
The actual duties of the auditor are comprised of four disparate departments; vehicle licensing, document recording, financial services and elections. Many of you have come through the doors of the auditor’s office to renew your license tabs, apply for a marriage license or register to vote. That is the public side of the office.
The financial services side of the office is also extremely important as they audit the accounts payable for all county departments, audit the payroll for all county departments, and complete the annual financial statements for the county.
We have a long history of clean audits and awards for financial excellence.
A candidate running for county auditor can say all kinds of things to win over voters. Unfortunately, the reality of the office is that we are constrained by state and federal laws. Laws get passed in Olympia, and we must follow them whether we like them or not.
A candidate who says they will change state law should run for the Legislature, not county auditor.
There are ideas out there for changes to the auditor’s office. Many of these ideas are already being done. Others cannot be done under state and federal law.
Auditor’s office staff already work with the Washington State Auditor’s Office on annual audits of the county finances and procedures. The budget department has worked to bring financial transparency to our citizens by providing budgeting, revenue and expenditure information on the county website through the OpenGov tool.
The elections department already “cleans” the voter rolls on a daily basis using legitimate sources including the Social Security Death Index, county and Department of Health deceased lists, and USPS postal change of address information. If the voters would like to elect someone to audit the auditor’s office, it should be someone like Merrill who has actual auditing experience.
The county auditor and staff provide extremely important functions for county departments and the citizens of the county. These tasks must be completed timely, accurately, fairly and impartially.
The voters of Lewis County deserve to continue to have a competent county auditor and staff. Please join us in voting for Mitchell Merrill, CPA for Lewis County auditor.
Gary Zandell
Lewis County auditor, 1980-2014
Larry Grove
Lewis County auditor, 2015-2026
