By SUZANNE CROUCH
State Auditor

Suzanne Crouch

INDIANA — Over the last seven months, I traveled to each of Indiana’s 92 counties, visiting the county auditors and their staff to discuss State and local transparency — where we are and where we need to be.

Transparency is the key to having an administration that is supported and trusted by the people it serves. At its core, transparency is important because it holds government accountable for its actions.

From the youngest auditors barely out of college to those who have served in many different roles in their county, I was deeply impressed by their understanding of this concept and their commitment to doing right by the taxpayers. Each and every auditor described their role to me as a service to their community and emphasized their desire to ensure accounting accuracy and make payments as swiftly as possible.

One auditor told me that “Indiana is great because Hoosiers are really good at just being themselves.” The more I traveled, the more I saw she is exactly right. Hoosiers are proud of their heritage, their occupations and their communities.

Indiana is in good shape because we are a common sense state that believes in getting the job done and reaching out to those in need. We are thriving because of people like your county officials, who do their jobs well with integrity and perseverance.

This 92-county journey left me with an abundance of ideas and inspired me to continue my mission of connecting with the entire state and promoting transparency at all levels. I want the State to be a valuable source of information for the public – one that is interactive, dynamic and frequently utilized.

As I’ve said before, my goals for the Auditor’s Office center on increasing the transparency of Indiana’s financial information in order to help Hoosiers understand where their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent and improving communication between the State and local entities. The purpose of Indiana’s government is to serve Hoosiers, and I will do everything in my power to make that service excellent.