Alabama State Auditor calls for audit of his own office

MONTGOMERY — Alabama State Auditor isn’t a particularly flashy job. The state auditor doesn’t usually grab headlines or garner much attention, but Jim Zeigler has changed all that in his first month on the job.

Once nicknamed “Mr. 49%” for his run of ill-fated campaigns, Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler—who won in November with 63% of the statewide vote—is seeking to prove his credentials as a person who shakes things up.

The Alabama State Auditor is calling for an audit… of the State Auditor’s office.

“Thursday afternoon the Historical Commission is coming and auditing my office. They have 28 pieces of historic furniture and accessories in my office, so I asked them to come so I could start out with a clean slate. Also, the examiners of public accounts have done a complete financial audit of the State Auditor’s office. Their report is expected just any day now.”

And what happens if the audits of the Auditor show something missing?

“Well, I’ll pay for it,” Zeigler said bluntly.

The state auditor wants to further hold his fellow public servants accountable by filing suit as a taxpayer for any missing inventory to be replaced by the person responsible.

“Right now,” Mr. Zeigler said in an interview with Yellowhammer Wednesday, “the state auditor completes the audit of an agency, finds missing or stolen items, and that report is put in a desk drawer and nothing happens.”

“The first audit came out Friday, and it showed $97,000 worth of missing or stolen property from 13 state agencies, so right off the bat here we’re going to try out our new system to follow up and hold the responsible people accountable,” Zeigler said.

Auditor Zeigler received some criticism from the Montgomery Advertiser editorial board earlier this year for not taking a state car, but the Auditor views his refusal as more than just a symbolic gesture.

“I already have a personal car. It’s paid for, I like it, I’m used to it. It gets 45 miles to the gallon. Why do I need a state car?”

Zeigler isn’t stopping with the car. He also declined his state laptop, wifi, state cell phone, state insurance, and a new nameplate for his desk, opting instead to stick with the Sylacauga marble desk plate he received as a gift when he was elected to the Public Service Commission in 1975. The old nameplate works just fine, Zeigler said—even if his position of “Commissioner” is a little out of date.

“I’m the Commissioner of Savings,” he joked.

He already had these things, he says, why should the state pay for duplicates?

Auditor Zeigler is confident his nickel-and-dime approach to saving the state money will add up to a big impact on the $260 million hole in the state’s General Fund.

“It’s more important than ever to save every dollar that you can, not only will that help bridge that tremendous gap, it will also help the taxpayers feel better that every dollar possible is being saved… I could be the MVP of the state government team.”