TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) — The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors has responded to the Arizona Auditor General's report on the Treasurer's office.

“We are deeply disappointed that instead of working constructively to provide relief for Santa Cruz County residents, the Arizona Auditor General released his report as a blatant attempt to minimize responsibility for allowing former Santa Cruz County Treasurer Elizabeth Gutfer's theft of approximately $40 million to go unchecked for a decade.”

Looking back at the Auditor General's inaction in this matter over the past decade, it is clear that he has not applied basic auditing principles in his oversight of the Santa Cruz County Treasurer. Thus, the Auditor General's true motive in issuing this “report” is clear: to shift the blame from his own failures.

Last week, on August 19, 2024, the County filed a Notice of Claim with the Auditor General, accusing the office of failing to comply with basic accounting principles and overlooking Mr. Gutfer's misconduct. In response to the County's Notice of Claim, the Auditor General rushed to release this so-called “investigative report” that is clearly intended to deflect attention from the Auditor General's failure to oversee Mr. Gutfer.

Notably, the Auditor General's own cover letter to the purported report explicitly states that the report was not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (as have been the case for the past decade of audits) and that third parties should not rely on the report's veracity. Moreover, the report was issued without consultation with County officials, which runs counter to the Auditor General's established practice of meeting first with the governmental entity being audited to ensure the entity (in this case the County) has an opportunity to challenge the findings of fact and respond to recommendations. The fact that this long-standing practice was not followed here is just another example of the Auditor General's failure to fulfill his basic audit duties and his attempt to avoid financial responsibility to the residents of Santa Cruz County.

“The County intends to pursue a Notice of Claim against the Auditor General through the court system and have a jury decide the extent of the Auditor General's liability in failing in his duties to the residents of Santa Cruz County. The County further demands that the Auditor General retract his self-serving and misleading report.”