Columbus City Council opens process to appoint replacement city auditor

Columbus City Council has opened a formal process to appoint a replacement city auditor following the departure of outgoing Auditor Megan Kilgore, releasing an eligible-candidate list and inviting finalists to a public hearing.

The council’s public news archive identifies an April 15, 2026, update on next steps after Kilgore’s departure and an April 24 release of the full list of eligible candidates. Council President Shannon Hardin outlined the next steps in the process, according to the archive.

The April 24 update also invited finalists to a public hearing. The available records do not identify the finalists by name, give the hearing date, or report the outcome of the hearing.

Process remains short of a documented appointment

The developments documented by the city show that Council had moved from outlining a replacement process to publishing the eligible-candidate list and planning a public hearing for finalists.

They do not establish that Council had made a final appointment. The available records also do not identify a permanent replacement for Kilgore as of Aug. 3, 2026.

The distinction is significant because the city’s notices describe a candidate-screening and public-hearing stage, rather than a completed appointment. No vote total, appointment date or final selection is included in the available material.

Financial-government context

The appointment process is taking place amid other 2026 city actions involving Columbus finances and administration. Council’s news archive lists a March 2 amendment to the city’s 2026 budget and an earlier announcement of a financial-sustainability task force.

In an April 1 State of the City release, Columbus said it would invest $8.8 million in continuing specified programs in 2026. The available source material does not identify those programs in the information provided for this report.

The city auditor post is a municipal accountability and financial-management position, making the pending appointment relevant to the city’s oversight of public finances. But the available records do not describe the candidates’ qualifications, identify any disputes over the process, or indicate when Council will take a final appointment action.

For now, the next documented step is the public hearing for finalists. Its date and result were not available in the city records supplied for this report.