The Fayetteville Housing Authority board on June 26 accepted a third-party audit for fiscal year 2023 that reported no findings and praised the authority's recent operational turnaround, and the board approved Resolution 13-56 to formally receive the audit.

The auditor's managing partner, Lewis Barrell, CPA of Barrow and Renshaw (St. Louis), wrote that the authority's staff and leadership produced a dramatic recovery in one year and that the audit found no items to disclose. "This dramatic recovery was the result of the strong leadership of Miss Shonda Tapley and the dedication and hard work of her team," the letter says, a passage read into the record at the meeting.

The clean audit matters because housing authorities that receive more than $750,000 in federal funds must complete annual third-party audits and present them to their governing boards; a favorable opinion is a step toward regulatory compliance even as other reviews continue. Executive Director Shonda Tapley told the board she and her staff are continuing work on an ongoing forensic audit and systems reconciliation while implementing operational improvements. "We are making strides," Tapley said at the meeting.

Board discussion was brief. Chair Moore moved to accept the audit and present it to the board; a second was made and the resolution passed with recorded "aye" votes from Commissioner Cole, Commissioner Deutsch and Chair Moore. The board did not record any dissenting votes during the roll call on the resolution.

The board packet includes the full audit report and the accompanying auditor communication letter from Barrow and Renshaw; staff said the letter was placed in the public record at the meeting. Tapley and staff noted that while the opinion is favorable, the authority remains engaged in a forensic audit and ongoing reconciliation of housing voucher management system (VMS) data with HUD.