Baker City Council hires Colter Slavin & Company for annual municipal audit

The Baker City Council unanimously approved hiring Colter Slavin & Company CPAs to perform the city’s annual financial audit and accepted partner Matthew Margaglio as the engagement lead. The council moved to appoint the firm after receiving a declination from Falk & Winkler and a recommendation from a local contact who had worked with Colter Slavin. “We’ve been conducting audits as a firm for well over 50 years,” Margaglio told the council, adding that “personally, I’ve been involved with municipal and governmental audits for over 20 [years].”

The council and staff discussed the audit schedule and contingencies. Margaglio said his team of four auditors would aim to begin work in September, coordinate with the city finance staff (identified in the meeting as Mary Sue), and dig into fieldwork in November and December with a goal of concluding by Dec. 31. He cautioned that the engagement cannot begin until the Louisiana Legislative Auditor (LLA) signs off on the prior audit; if the LLA delays approval of the prior audit, the start of the new engagement could be delayed. “They can’t approve us until they have signed off on the prior,” Margaglio said.

Council members asked whether the firm had experience with local school-system audits; Margaglio replied his practice includes school boards and municipal governments across Louisiana and that the firm has a Baton Rouge office. After brief questions from council members, a motion to retain Colter Slavin & Company and Margaglio as auditor passed with verbal aye votes and the chair declaring “Ayes have it.”

The council did not set engagement details or a contract at the meeting; staff said they would forward contact information and proceed to obtain the Legislative Auditor’s approval and complete the formal engagement steps.

Details from the meeting: the city had solicited firms and received a declination from Falk & Winkler; the council accepted a recommendation and proceeded to concur with Colter Slavin’s proposal. The engagement timeline and staffing were described as subject to LLA approval and the city finance staff’s closeout of fiscal records.

The council's formal action allows staff to finalize contractual terms and begin state approval processes; no dollar amount for the audit engagement was discussed on the record.