Gov. Jay Nixon continues to set a deplorable example when it comes to state spending by his office.
A state audit released Wednesday revealed the governor continues to tap other state agencies to pay expenses incurred by his office, a questionable practice uncovered in a previous audit.
Nixon has taken action - not necessarily to change his ways, but to select a fellow Democrat to lead the office.
Following the suicide of Republican Auditor Tom Schweich, Nixon appointed Democratic Boone County Treasurer Nicole Galloway to fill the vacancy.
Schweich's deputy auditor, Harry Otto - who announced the audit findings for Nixon's office - said he co-worker Trish Vincent, chief of staff, will be replace after Galloway takes office.
That's unfortunate, but that's politics.
Math, however, is not a political discipline, even when granting the benefit of the doubt. Otto gave the governor that benefit when he said: "While it's possible to make a case that agencies should pay the costs of a governor's office employee whose work benefits that agency, to take the National Governor's Association dues and and the Southern Governors Association dues and have those paid by someone other than the governor's office, I don't see how you can make that case."
During the audited period from July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2014, Otto reported lawmakers budgeted about $6.6 million for the governor's office and Mansion operations. The audit found, however, $1.9 million in expenses paid by other agencies, bringing the total "closer to $8.5 million that has been spent," Otto said.
The deputy auditor acknowledged that Nixon's administration is not the first to charge other agencies for governor's office work, but he said the $1.9 million "extra" funding is "not minor. It's significant. And it's more significant now than in prior administrations."
In addition, Otto said the governor's office has used funds from the 2014-15 budget to cover overspending from the 2013-2014 budget. Otto called this a new finding and added: "Even though the governor has the flexibility, authority, power to shift these dollars around, he still ran short of money in one year and couldn't pay the bills."
Another revelation - one likely to rankle rank-and-file state employees - was six governor's office employees received raises ranging from 5 to 21 percent, well in excess of overall salary increases for state workers.
More disturbing than the amounts uncovered in the audit is the mindset that the chief executive's office is exempt from the rules that apply to other sectors of government.
If anything, the governor's office must be an example of prudence and fairness - for other branches of government, for its executive agencies, for state employees and for all Missourians.