City auditor reports 12 audits in FY25, 214 open recommendations and plans to raise FY26 audit output

Amanda Noble, City Auditor for Atlanta, presented the fourth-quarter and fiscal‑year 2025 wrap‑up to the Finance and Executive Committee on July 16, reporting 12 audit reports released in FY25, 214 open audit recommendations at year‑end and a raised audit goal for FY26. Noble told the committee the audit office released all 12 planned reports for FY25 and has increased its FY26 release goal to 14 reports. She said 214 recommendations remained open at the end of FY25; the office added 84 recommendations and closed 78 during the year. Noble attributed part of the follow‑up shortfall to turnover in a manager who coordinates follow‑up with departments, and to turnover in departments that required retraining new business‑owners in the audit‑tracking system. Noble described how the office prioritized recommendations: high priority for citywide impact, public‑safety or evidence of fraud or legal noncompliance; medium for department‑wide resource or compliance issues; and low for business‑unit risks or obsolete procedures. She said the office’s interactive dashboard publishes recommendation status and that staff worked with the Mayor’s Office of Innovation and Performance to increase visibility of open items. On continuous auditing, Noble said the office runs regular monitoring of procurement, accounts payable and segregation‑of‑duties (SOD) controls, has assisted Human Resources Information Systems to remove unnecessary privileges from roles, and runs monthly vendor/employee matches to flag potential conflicts for the ethics office, the OIG, or procurement. Noble said the office completed its first “quick response” audit (timeliness of payments) and updated its report format. Noble said the audit office is undergoing a required peer review of its processes (the review was in progress at the time of the presentation and expected to be posted the following week). She said FY26 priorities include closing 140 recommendations, adding HR and payroll to continuous monitoring, and releasing an FY26 annual audit plan in October. Committee members asked about the peer‑review timing, what “closed as implemented” means, and the age of outstanding recommendations. Noble said “closed as implemented” means the department reported implementation and the audit office performed at least limited verification. She noted some recommendations date back several years and that an aging report shows most recommendations are past due; about 38 of the 214 were still within their planned implementation window. Noble said the office had 26% turnover in FY25, hired six people during the year, and had two current vacancies and one unfunded vacancy.