State Auditor Rebecca Otto
Invoices released Tuesday show State Auditor Rebecca Otto’s office spent over 71 thousand dollars the first four months of this year to challenge a new state law that allows Minnesota counties to hire private firms to do their audits. Republicans say giving counties flexibility will save taxpayers money and they accuse Otto of spending tax dollars to defend her own political turf. Otto, a Democrat, responds she loathes incurring these costs but has no choice because she took an oath to defend the Constitution. She says the legislature passed an unconstitutional law to diminish the core function of the state auditor’s office, which is to audit counties on behalf of the people of Minnesota.