Street lights, street conditions and the ins and outs of the Lawrence Police Department all will get scrutinized by the city’s new performance auditor.

New city auditor Michael Eglinski has developed a 2008 work plan that has him delving into some of the largest departments in the city.

City commissioners recently approved his plans and asked him to get started right away, with the hope he’ll identify potential savings for the city.

“It would be great to get some instant gratification out of this new position,” Mayor Mike Dever said.

The six projects that commissioners asked Eglinski to study in 2008:

¢ Pavement condition measures. Eglinski will look at whether the city’s current system of rating the conditions of various city streets is consistent and accurate. Eglinski recommended the audit because the city relies heavily on the “pavement condition index” scores in deciding how much money to spend each year for street maintenance.

¢ Police administrative preliminary review. The audit will look at all administrative functions of the police department to determine whether there are specific areas of police operations that deserve a more detailed audit. Eglinski said he is aware of community discussions about whether the city should create a police advisory review board. He said the audit he’s proposed will look at the way the department handles complaints, which could lead to a review of the police advisory board concept.

¢ Street light payments. The city pays about $500,000 per year for electricity usage related to street lights. Eglinski said an audit is needed to ensure that the city is being properly billed by Westar for the street light system.

¢ Controls over small purchases: Eglinski will look at how the city authorizes purchases under $1,000. The city in 2007 made about $800,000 worth of purchases using a credit card-like system.

¢ Financial indicators analysis. Eglinski will look at what financial indicators are the most useful for the city to monitor.

¢ Ethics questions for city survey. City commissioners are developing a survey to send out to employees. Commissioners have expressed an interest in including at least one question about the ethical climate in city government. Eglinski will do research on what specific questions the city could ask on the survey.

Eglinski, whose position pays an annual salary of $87,500, joined the city in late February after serving as a performance auditor for the city of Kansas City, Mo. He’s the city’s first performance auditor, a new position designed to find ways to make city operations more efficient.