HARRISBURG (Aug. 19, 2021) – Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor today announced an initiative to modernize his department’s operations to better serve taxpayers and appointed department veteran Tracie Fountain to serve as Chief Transformation Officer.
“We need to make sure we are doing the job taxpayers need us to do in the best and most efficient way possible,” DeFoor said. “I’m very pleased to appoint Tracie Fountain, an experienced auditor and accountant, to lead our department’s transformation.”
DeFoor noted that despite receiving a modest funding increase in the most recent state budget, the department continues to operate at roughly the same funding level it had in 1997, but with many fewer employees. The department’s appropriation for the current fiscal year is approximately $38.8 million.
“It’s become abundantly clear that this department cannot continue to do things the way we’ve always done them, especially under such tight financial constraints,” DeFoor said. “We’ll perform a top-down review of our operations and look for opportunities to adopt continual process improvements wherever we can.”
The first phase of the transformation project will involve performing a complete assessment of the organization aimed at analyzing workflow processes, skill gaps, training needs and technology requirements. It will include asking employees for their input.
To lead this effort, Auditor General DeFoor named Tracie Fountain as the Department’s Chief Transformation Officer, effective Aug. 30. Fountain, a CPA with more than 30 years of service to the department, currently serves as an Audit Bureau Director for Children and Youth Services.
“Tracie’s well-established track record as an accountant and as a bureau director make her ideal in this new role,” DeFoor said. “We will transform our department into a national model for how to protect accountability in government and ensure continued transparency in how taxpayer dollars are spent.”
Learn more about the Department of the Auditor General online at www.PaAuditor.gov.
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