Commission selects Ritchie May for 2025 county audit after split audit-committee vote

The Grand County Commission voted Oct. 7 to award the county’s 2025 external audit services contract to Ritchie May following review and competing proposals from Larson and others. The county’s audit committee sent a split recommendation to the full commission; the committee’s vote favored Ritchie May.

Why the split: Audit committee members and commissioners debated whether to retain Larson — the incumbent audit firm — or to contract with Ritchie May. Supporters of Larson argued that staying with an incumbent improves continuity, local familiarity and efficiency and cited prior internal guidance that an auditor rotation every three to five years is common. Other committee members and commissioners supported Ritchie May as a new set of eyes after recent state audit interactions and said the firm presented sufficient government accounting experience.

Cost and scope: Commissioners discussed component-unit audits for special service districts and whether the selected firm would also provide component-unit services; some commissioners emphasized the opportunity to negotiate lower per-unit costs if the county consolidated multiple audits under a single firm. The public meeting record shows opposition votes from at least two commissioners to the Ritchie May award; the motion passed by roll call with multiple commissioners in favor and other commissioners opposed.

Next steps: Staff will finalize the contract with Ritchie May per the procurement rules and clarify the scope for component units and any travel or onsite-work costs; the county will continue discussions about whether to subsidize component-unit audit fees to improve timeliness of consolidated county reporting.

Ending: The commission completed a formal vote Oct. 7 and directed staff to return with contract documents and procurement steps for execution.