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Illinois Toll Highway internal audit reports 2024 results, outlines 2025 enterprise risk management plans
Summary
Sean Farmer, chief of internal audit, briefed the Finance & Audit Committee on 2024 audit activity, management of open findings and a maturing enterprise risk management framework; staff staffing and required annual reporting were also discussed.
Sean Farmer, chief of internal audit for the Toll Highway Authority, told the Finance & Audit Committee that internal audit completed its planned cycle audits for 2024 and is tracking remediation of open findings while expanding enterprise risk management work for 2025.
The presentation, delivered during the committee meeting, summarized the audit charter, the department’s 2024 activities and the 2025 audit plan. Farmer said internal audit “provides ongoing objective and independent reviews on internal controls” and noted the audit charter was updated in December 2024 to reflect new Institute of Internal Auditors standards effective January 2025. “Internal audit derives its authority from the state’s fiscal control and internal auditing act,” Farmer said.
The nut of the presentation was that internal audit met its 2024 requirements, and the office is shifting to a combined focus on traditional audits, remediation tracking and a formal enterprise risk management program. Farmer told directors that five cycle audits were completed in 2024 and that the office issued a September 30 report to the board chair, the committee chair and the executive director summarizing progress and significant findings.
Farmer said internal audit continued prevailing-wage compliance work, supported a payment-card industry review and passed a peer review with the highest rating. He also said the office did not perform a petty cash or federal-grants audit in 2024 because petty cash disbursements did not exceed the statutory threshold and the agency did not receive federal grants that year. Farmer added that petty cash funds had been closed in 2021 but that internal audit continues to monitor the requirement.
On resources and staffing, Farmer said the audit group filled its staff auditor positions and the IT audit manager role in 2024 and is working with administration to fill a construction audit manager position. He said internal audit conducts monthly follow-ups on open findings and coordinates remediation with action-plan owners and the executive director; the office is required by statute to submit an annual certification letter on material open findings to the Auditor General’s office by May 1.
Farmer also presented the authority, roles and planned governance for a maturing enterprise risk management program. He described risk-action owners, risk-accountability owners and an executive risk stakeholder role that would connect risk management to strategic planning. “As the program matures, a need may arise where this role may need to be reassigned,” Farmer said, noting that internal audit is currently fulfilling the executive risk stakeholder role while preserving its independence.
The committee received the update with no requests for amendment. Directors were told the program will hold steering committee meetings in June, August and November 2025 to confirm risk owners and finalize response plans and that the office will implement key risk indicators and KPIs to monitor risks.
The presentation covered both informational material (the 2024 audit results and staffing updates) and program direction (the ERM governance structure and planned steering meetings). No formal committee action was taken on audit reports or ERM governance during the meeting; discussions were presented as program updates and next steps.
