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Committee reappoints CLA as external auditors; first-year fee and escalator to be included in council packet
Summary
The Finance and Claims Committee reviewed two proposals and voted to continue the contract with CLA as Norwalk’s external auditors; the committee asked that the full council authorization include the dollar amount and a 3% annual escalator.
NORWALK — Jared Schmidt, Norwalk’s chief financial officer, told the Finance and Claims Committee on April 10 that the city issued an RFP for external auditors as the existing contract with CLA reached its term. Two proposals were received and the staff committee recommended keeping CLA for another five‑year engagement.
Schmidt said CLA has worked with the city and staff regard the firm as responsive to Norwalk’s needs. "CLA has been really good to work with in my experience working here… they were great about making sure that we're doing everything the way that we need to," Schmidt said.
Committee members discussed whether changing audit firms is customary and whether CLA offers a consulting arm for ad hoc projects. Schmidt said firms typically provide standard hourly or project rates for non‑audit work and that the committee could seek separate proposals for larger projects.
The committee asked that the authorization forwarded to the full council include the contract dollar amount and a 3% escalator. Schmidt confirmed the first year of the new contract is $120,000 with a 3% annual increase thereafter; the last year of the previous contract was $103,000.
The committee voted unanimously to appoint CLA and will forward a revised authorization (including the dollar amount and escalation language) to the full council for final approval on April 22, 2025.
