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Former city auditor urges council to review sudden auditor change
Summary
At the Aug. 5 Eagle Pass City Council meeting a representative of the city's former external auditors said the council approved a new firm July 31 despite an active contract through Sept. 30, 2025, and urged transparency about the timeline and records readiness.
A representative of the city’s former external auditors told the Eagle Pass City Council on Aug. 5 that the council approved a new external audit firm at its July 31 meeting while Martina Rosario & Company still had a three‑year contract that runs through Sept. 30, 2025. The speaker said the new firm was engaged to audit the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2024.
The former‑auditor representative said finance staff told them the change was due to a schedule mismatch but that the auditor had not been given a firm timeline. “The city approved the engagement of a new external audit firm to perform the audit for the fiscal year ended 09/30/2024 in spite of Martina Rosario and company having an existing three‑year contract, which extends through 09/30/2025,” the representative told council during citizens communications. He said Finance Director Felix Castillo had told the auditors the city wanted the audit finished by Aug. 31 but that that date had not been communicated formally to the firm.
The speaker said attempts to schedule meetings with city staff to present a plan and review outstanding reconciliations were not completed and that he learned of the council action shortly before the July 31 meeting. He distributed a letter to council with his account of conversations in late July about incomplete cash reconciliations and other closing work that he said made the audit schedule “a significant challenge” for his team.
Council did not take action on the comment. The remarks were made during the citizens communications portion of the Aug. 5 meeting; no formal response or vote followed. The auditor representative said he was available to answer questions and left the letter with council.
Background: the council voted at a July 31 special meeting to engage a different external audit firm for the year ended Sept. 30, 2024. The former‑auditor representative said the change conflicted with the three‑year contract that he said remains in effect through Sept. 30, 2025. He urged the council to review the timetable and the readiness of the city books for audit.
