Tyson's Promises

Tyson will bring unprecedented transparency and accountability to Davis County.  He'll do it through simple summaries of reports, reporting directly to taxpayers, putting purchases (past, present, and future) online, improving the quality of audits, switching to impact-focused audits, digging into every dollar spent, only allowing spending that aligns with long term goals, cutting out waste, and constantly looking for greater efficiency! 

Tyson served for two years on the Davis County Republican Party executive committee. While there he wrote and helped pass bylaws that require greater transparency within the DCRP, greater access to important information. He worked to fix the broken delegate apportionment, and the bylaw passed with a unanimous vote!

Through his knowledge of state statute, he has drafted and worked with legislatures to get legislation passed that makes public meetings more readily available online and makes purchasing more competitive and open. He has consistently and intelligently used common sense practices to increase transparency and accountability in his multiple roles. Transparency and accountability are not just empty words for him, he knows how to make it happen!

As we identify opportunities to save, we will cut costs.  We will do a deep dive into the budget, closely examining and requiring justification for every dollar spent. Where that spending doesn't align with long-term plans, we will eliminate the costs. We'll do it again and again, year after year, looking into at least 25% of the budget each year. We will be precise, methodical, and professional. When a hatchet is needed, we will use a hatchet. When a scalpel will do, we will use a scalpel. We will find those savings and improve so we can do more with less. We will constantly leverage innovation and new technologies to do it. Through the use of new technology Tyson was able to complete 6 weeks of work in a matter of 6 hours over a two week period, he knows how to find greater efficiencies. 

Tyson will dig into the County Budget. We’ll do it methodically and professionally, and we’ll do it again and again, year after year, always striving for additional savings and efficiency.  We will comb through at least 25% of the budget. We will start from scratch, from $0.00, and require justification for every dollar spent.  We will rotate what we examine, so in a 4 year period we have examined every penny and justified every dollar. Then when we are done, we'll do it again!

Tyson will improve the quality and impact of internal audits!  Internal audits in Davis County do not cite Global Internal Audit Standards, there's no reason this should continue. These Standards ensure a level of competency, quality, objectivity, reliability, and trust that taxpayers and public officials alike should demand. They are a protection against the weaponization of audits and help guarantee their usefulness. The state government, our schools, our colleges and universities, Salt Lake County, and the UTA comply with audit Standards, why would we expect any less from Davis County?

With limited resources, we need to focus on where our audit efforts can make the biggest impact! Given the choice between chasing pennies and chasing millions, the choice should be clear. Tyson has the knowhow to make sure we are as efficient and effective with our internal auditing as we should be with the rest of our county government!

Tyson is a Director of Internal Audit, a chief audit executive. He has experience not only with auditing with Standards, but what it takes to start using them. Tyson knows how to just start looking without direction, and produce results that bring about huge savings! In his career, Tyson has helped protect public funds, investigated fraud that has resulted in convictions, and discovered wasteful practices and misuse. He is an expert at digging in to complex problems to find solutions and to produce results that matter. Tyson knows what it takes to not just have a good internal audit, but an excellent one. 

Tyson knows that when we turn on the lights, the diamonds shine and the cockroaches scatter!

Tyson will report directly to taxpayers. All public reports will be available online. For those that want reports sent directly to them, Tyson will make it happen. 

We will report on what we are spending, what we are purchasing, and what we plan on purchasing. We will report on our budget and our progress on keeping to the budget. We will provide our Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports, and we will also include summaries and explanations so that complex information is accessible to all! We will report all of our internal audits. We will report what we plan on auditing. When any inappropriate spending happens, we will report that too! We will also report our progress. We will report how much we have saved and how much we have cut. We will report our successes and where we need to get better.

We will remember that we are a government of the people, by the people, and for the people and that taxpayers are our bosses. 

Tyson will make sure that every dollar spent has a purpose. We need to use strategic planning that is documented, department specific, county specific, and updated frequently. Our strategic plan was last updated in 2022. That is unacceptable and far from a business best practice. Tyson knows how to use strategic planning to ensure budgeting makes sense, that it is done with long-term purpose, and with clear direction. When we do not know where we are going, we wander and spend ineffectively. If we know where we are going, and clearly document and communicate that, then we can increase the accountability and transparency of our budgeting. We can also make sure that our budgeting aligns with those plans!

When a family wants to build a new house, they may have to go camping instead of to Hawaii, make the old car last longer instead of buying a new one, make dinner at home instead of eating out. We understand these principles, Tyson will make sure Davis County follows those same principles!

Tyson will make sure important financial information is available to all.  Available does not just mean online, although that is a key part. Available also means understandable and useable. A 100+ page report means little to the single parent business owner who is spread so thin they don't have time for that. We will make sure information is communicated in a simplified, summarized, accessible way. We will strive to fit these summaries onto one page, when possible. We will absolutely still provide the 100+ page detail for all those that want it, but we want to make sure that everyone can be armed with information they can use!

Tyson knows that when key stakeholders have key information, accountability improves, and we become more aligned with what those key stakeholders need. Tyson also knows that there is no more important group of key stakeholders than our Davis County families!

Not only is Tyson a financial professional and audit executive, but he also has a communications degree. He understands not only the importance of communication, but how to communicate in understandable and approachable ways.

Tyson will bring his considerable expertise to combat fraud, waste, abuse, and misuse of public resources wherever it may exist within Davis County government.

Tyson has lead investigations that have resulted in criminal convictions. He has uncovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraud and wasteful practices throughout Utah, including in county governments. He has combated these practices with professionalism, integrity, and objectivity.

As one of the leading experts on public sector fraud audits in the State, Tyson has become a requested speaker and trainer at industry conferences, where he volunteers his expertise to help other auditors improve their skills in finding and preventing fraud.