El Campo awards five-year audit contract to Singleton Clark and Co.; staff cited recent audit deadline changes

The City of El Campo City Council approved Resolution R2025-42 to award professional audit services to Singleton Clark and Company PC and authorized the city manager to sign the contract, selecting the firm after a competitive review of six proposals.

Staff reported that five reviewers — including Carolyn Gibson, Brittany/’Britney’ (finance), Tory Meachon and Renee Garcia — evaluated proposals on qualifications of staff, audit approach and methodology, proposal cost and references using the city’s published scoring matrix. Staff said Singleton Clark was not the lowest bidder but was ranked highest for municipal audit experience and references; a staff member reported that outreach to a referenced city returned “great experience.”

Staff emphasized timing implications: a recent legislative change was described that could force the city to adopt the no-new-revenue rate if an audit is not completed by March 31 of the audit year. Officials said that history of delayed audit completion in prior years increased the importance of choosing a firm experienced with municipal schedules.

Councilmember (unnamed) moved adoption of the resolution and the motion passed unanimously. One councilmember asked for the review matrix to be included in the agenda packet; staff apologized for not attaching the evaluation form and said the review followed the published matrix and weighted proposal cost, audit approach and qualifications.

The contract period is five years as set in the resolution; council did not identify the audit contract price in the meeting discussion. Staff said they sought a firm familiar with municipal accounting timelines to avoid late audits that could affect the city’s ability to adopt certain tax-rate decisions the next budget cycle.