"Linda Hamilton can push down through the organization and weigh in on internal control issues," he said. "Now they're responsible to bring themselves into compliance."

That change is just one of several "robust internal controls" Thomas said the fiscal review committee will be addressing once it gets rolling in the coming weeks.

"The county is like an aircraft carrier; it's not a speedboat. To turn this thing around takes several hundred people. It's a tremendous effort to create organizational change," he said.

Another top priority for both Wilson and Thomas is expanding the use of an external auditor to check over county expenses and budgets.

While the county's internal auditing system performs annual reviews, Wilson said an outside eye could negate some of the public's suspicion about internal controls and may lessen the influence employees have over an audit.

"There's no internal agenda. There's no self-preservation for the council, the auditor or the mayor," she said. "You've got that independent eye to say we might want to reorganize the system."

County Mayor Peter Corroon noted the county's internal audit office may be overloaded, particularly with recent allegations of time-card fraud and suspect hiring practices. The county is doing "spot-checks" on several issues, Corroon said, and outside auditors may speed up that process.

"We don't have the resources to look at every time card," he said. "I think we've got a great auditing department, but if we find they're overloaded we should go outside the county."

In addition to more thorough external audits, Thomas said the committee will also be considering a more formal tracking process. Currently, there is no follow-up procedure to ensure audit recommendations have been implemented.

Thomas noted that the main reason the county has become more reactive than proactive is because of limited resources across the county. While other taxing entities have hiked taxes recently to keep up with growth, Thomas said the county has not raised rates for years.

"The county is spending less on centralized administration. It avoids tax increases and makes us run more efficiently, but it doesn't give you a lot of resources to be proactive," Thomas said.

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E-mail: estewart@desnews.com