The state is hiring the international
financial consulting firm Deloitte to audit the state Department of Revenue in
the wake of a half-billion dollars' worth of errors.
Deloitte was selected
from 10 companies that submitted proposals. The final cost of the contract,
which will now be finalized, is not known. The state expects a preliminary
"risk assessment" to cost less than $250,000 as the company examines
all of the revenue agency's systems for receiving and distributing tax dollars.
Once that assessment -- to be done for a flat fee -- is completed in July,
Deloitte will receive an hourly payment for its audit of the dollars coming in
and flowing out.
State Budget Director
Adam Horst said that to preserve the independence of the audit, the state has
not set a deadline for when the review must be completed. However, the
administration expects it to be finished by year's end, if not sooner.
Horst said Deloitte was
the clear choice, as all of the groups consulted on the pick -- including the
Republican and Democratic caucuses in the House and Senate -- had it among
their top recommendations. Monday, the bipartisan State Budget Committee,
meeting in Vincennes, voted to accept the selection of Deloitte.
