State Auditor Rob Sand visited Audubon County last week on his annual Town Hall Tour to highlight his office’s efforts to protect taxpayer funds. During his stop on Thursday at Albert the Bull Park, Sand said, “The Auditor’s Office is the taxpayers’ watchdog—we work against partisanship to protect your tax dollars from misuse by any party. To do that, you need to have someone here who is willing to call out powerful politicians and insiders. I’ve done that to both parties in this job and when I was Iowa’s top public corruption prosecutor.” He points to over a dozen successful investigations launched since he took office in 2019 that helped uncover more than $500,000 in improper disbursements and billings throughout the state. Additionally, Sand has championed the Public Innovations and Efficiencies (PIE) program, which helps government agencies identify waste and shares successful initiatives with other towns, counties, and school districts. In just two years, more than half of the state’s taxing organizations now participate in the PIE program, with a 25-percent increase in the number of efficiency practices in place. In his first term as Auditor, Sand has consistently demanded that public employees who commit willful and wanton sexual harassment be held financially responsible for any damages paid due to their actions. He says, “If we want to reduce the payouts of taxpayer dollars and reduce sexual harassment, we have to make the harassers themselves feel the financial pain, including garnishing their paychecks and pensions if necessary.” Sand is running for his second term as Auditor of State in the upcoming November midterms against Republican challenger and former Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division Comptroller Todd Halbur.