Text of Aug. 28 press release from Santa Cruz County:

Board of Supervisors Respond to the Arizona Auditor General’s Report Regarding Treasurer

August 28, 2024

We are deeply disappointed that the Arizona Auditor General chose to issue a purported report in a transparent attempt to minimize its liability in allowing former Santa Cruz County Treasurer Elizabeth Gutfahr’s nearly forty-million-dollar theft to continue unchecked for a decade, instead of working constructively with Santa Cruz County to make its citizens whole. 

Upon reviewing the Auditor General’s negligence in this matter over the last ten years, it is obvious that the office failed to utilize basic accounting audit principles in its oversight of the Santa Cruz County Treasurer.  As such, the true motive of the Auditor General issuing this “report” is clear: to deflect responsibility from the Auditor General’s own failures.  

Last week, on August 19, 2024, the County submitted a notice of claim to the Auditor General laying out that office’s culpability in not catching Ms. Gutfahr’s misdeeds and failing to adhere to basic accounting principles.  In response to the County’s notice of claim, the Auditor General rushed the publication of this purported “investigative report” that is clearly meant to deflect from the Auditor General’s failures in its oversight of Ms. Gutfahr. 

Of note, the Auditor General’s own cover letter to the purported report makes clear that it was not done via general accounting principles (just like its audits over the past decade) and that third parties should not rely on the veracity of the report.  In addition, the report was issued without consultation with County personnel, which is contrary to the Auditor General’s established practice to first meet with any governmental agency they are auditing to ensure an opportunity for the agency, in this case the County, to object to the factual findings and have the ability to respond to recommendations.  The fact that this long-standing practice was not followed here is just another example of the Auditor General failing in its basic auditing duties and attempting to avoid financial liability to the citizens of Santa Cruz County. 

The County intends to pursue its notice of claim against the Auditor General through the court system and let a jury determine the extent of the Auditor General’s responsibility for failing in its duties to the citizens of Santa Cruz County.  The County further demands that the Auditor General retract its self-serving and misleading report.

Click here for the PRT’s coverage of the Auditor General’s report, published Aug. 26, which includes the complete 15-page report.