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Council continues accounting contract with CliftonLarsonAllen as city pursues auditor for fiscal audit
Summary
The Crookston City Council approved an engagement extension with CliftonLarsonAllen for accounting services and heard staff warn the city has not yet secured an auditor for the year-end audit; staff said there is a statewide shortage of government auditors and outlined contingency options.
The Crookston City Council approved a resolution to continue a services engagement with CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) for accounting and related process work, and city staff reported the city has not yet secured a firm to perform the required year-end audit.
Staff told council CLA has been assisting with reconciliations and process improvements and that the city budget includes $100,000 for the work. City staff said the plan is to transition some routine tasks back to an in‑house accountant by March, freeing CLA to focus on process and audit‑note cleanup.
On the audit procurement, staff said the city received zero responses to its recent request for proposals and that a nationwide shortage of municipal auditors with the required government-accounting experience has left many cities in the same position. "There is a shortage of government auditors ... nationwide," a staff member said, explaining several regional firms have scaled back accrual-based auditing services and that available firms often lack capacity.
Staff outlined contingency options, including asking the Minnesota state auditor's office for assistance; staff warned the state route can be "very, very pricey" and may cost two to three times a typical municipal audit. City staff committed to continuing outreach to audit firms and said if no auditor is secured before the next meeting staff will contact the state and seek extensions as needed.
The council approved the CLA engagement by roll call. Councilors asked for an anticipated schedule for financial reconciliations and reporting; staff said reconciliations should be complete for January–February by March and that monthly or quarterly financial reports would follow once reconciliations are caught up. Staff said they are pursuing a virtual auditor who has worked with similar upload platforms and that CLA and staff remain focused on clearing audit notes from the previous audit.
The council's action continues CLA's engagement while staff continues to seek a qualified auditor and to return with a schedule for monthly/quarterly financial reporting.
