Electing a county auditor has become a habit, but it's not a necessity.

There are not a lot of competitive races in the April 5 election to draw Champaign County voters to the polls.

But there is one issue on the ballot that will affect all county residents the future of the Champaign County auditor's office. Voters are being asked to decide if an elected auditor should be replaced by an appointed auditor.

The News-Gazette supports the appointment of a professional financial analyst rather than the continued election of political wannabes to this important office. Critics of the proposal have raised valid points about the importance of an independent auditor, by which they mean an elected auditor.

But it's our belief that an appointee can not only be professionally qualified for the job, but also, with proper safeguards built into the system, independent.

The reality is that voters would not be addressing this issue if The News-Gazette had not reported in spring 2009 that current Auditor Tony Fabri had gone for weeks at a time without showing up for work.

The "Where's Tony" controversy not only demonstrated that the professionals in the auditor's office could do their jobs without him but also led directly to the proposal to do away with the office altogether. If that, indeed, is what happens, Fabri's political legacy in Champaign County will be etched in stone.

But this issue is about more than Fabri's relaxed approach to his professional obligations. It's about finding the best way to do the important work of the auditor's office, which involves not only tracking the flow of tax dollars throughout the broad expanse of county government but also serving an important watchdog role to protect taxpayers.

The watchdog function was the highlight of former auditor and current Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing's tenure as the Democratic auditor in a county dominated by a Republican board. That same dynamic continued for a time under Prussing's Democratic successor, the late Gerrie Parr.

But the board turned Democratic late in Parr's tenure, and the watchdogs became less watchful. When Parr retired, she was replaced by Mike Frerichs, who served briefly and used the auditor's office as a launching pad for a run for the Illinois Senate. Frerichs was replaced by Fabri, creating a bizarre situation where the Democratic Party's county chairman was supposedly watching over the Democratic majority on the county board.

Of course, party control of any office is never permanent. But for now at least, the watchdog role (Democrats watching Republicans, and vice versa) is not a factor.

More important, however, is the issue of professional qualification. In Illinois, anyone can be elected to county offices like sheriff, recorder of deeds, treasurer or auditor. If they actually are qualified for the position, so much the better. That's a potential problem.

Hiring a professional with a solid background in government accounting and finance would be a vast improvement over an aspiring officeholder. Just imagine real qualifications instead of someone who wants a spot on the public payroll or needs a county office as a platform to get elected to a state or federal office.

But simply appointing a qualified auditor is only part of the job. The auditor needs to be independent. So the question the county board would have to confront is how best to assure that independence.

Perhaps the auditor could be appointed for a specific term of office four or six years and answerable only to a special bipartisan committee of county board members. Dismissal would have to be for cause, not irritating a political potentate of either party.

Merely eliminating an elected auditor won't get the job done. Appointing a professional auditor and creating a structure in which that auditor will be free to act in the taxpayers' best interest will.

That requires voters to eliminate the auditor's office as a necessary first step. It's our recommendation they do that on April 5.