Several City Commission members asked during a pre-meeting on Oct. 5, 2025, that the commission pursue a forensic audit of city purchasing procedures going back to 2021, focusing on who approved purchases and how invoices were presented and paid. Commissioner (speaker identified in transcript) requested the review "to see who signed off on all that," and said she would like the audit to look year-by-year back to 2021.

The requested scope would include purchasing procedures and signature/approval chains. The topic gained urgency after a 2024 invoice matter was described: a department paid an initial deposit invoice, but a final invoice was not presented to the city until this year, leaving a $24,000 amount that had not yet been billed to the city, according to transcript remarks by a staff speaker.

City Attorney (transcript speaker identified as city attorney) told the commission the city commission sits as the audit committee and noted a Florida statute requires the audit committee to prepare an RFP for audit services when procurement is required. She said that if the procurement is estimated to exceed $35,000 and competitive bidding is required, the commission would have to approve the RFP before staff could advertise it. "If this procurement exceeds or if we estimate it will exceed $35,000 ... we will need to prepare [an RFP] for this commission to approve to start that procurement process," she said.

Commissioners discussed narrowing the audit scope so the RFP will include specific, measurable tasks; one commissioner said, "you gotta be very specific on what you want them to look for," warning that a broad RFP can produce unsatisfactory results. Commissioners also noted the city is recruiting a procurement manager who would take on procurement duties and that current approval thresholds include $3,500 for department heads, $35,000 for assistant city manager approval, and over $35,000 requiring commission and city manager approval.

No formal motion or vote to begin an audit is recorded in the pre-meeting transcript. The city attorney said she would advise the commission on the procurement and RFP process if the commission decided to proceed.

The commission also referenced an unnamed state organization said to offer audit services free of charge; the name was not provided in the transcript.

Next steps discussed included clarifying the audit scope, estimating cost, and—if the procurement threshold is met—directing staff to prepare an RFP for commission approval.