County’s 2009 audit begins

Washington state’s audit of Whitman County’s 2009 financial statement began Tuesday morning. County officials met with representatives of State Auditor Brian Sonntag’s office to chart out a schedule of the state’s review of the county’s books.

The county has not submitted a full report of its financial activities since 2003, when it switched from a cash accounting method to the more intricate accrual system. Accrual accounting tracks the value of all county-owned assets, instead of just financial transactions.

The 2008 audit report, released earlier this year, found $582,000 invested in area b...