Baltimore commission adopts 2025 Group A audit plan, defers EMS transport topic

Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen, chairing the Biennial Audits Oversight Commission, moved and the commission approved the city auditor’s proposed Group A audit plan for calendar year 2025, while excluding the proposed audit of the fire department’s external EMS transport arrangements for later consideration.

The action centers on the city auditor’s presentation of candidate audit objectives for Group A agencies. City Auditor Josh Pash outlined proposed objectives that include two alternative focuses for the Baltimore City Fire Department — either review of the program and controls for assigning take-home vehicles to employees or evaluation of controls over EMS internal billing and collections involving external ambulance providers — along with audit objectives for BCIT (privileged access controls), the Baltimore Development Corporation (performance metrics), the Department of General Services (energy billing/renewable energy), DHCD (emergency services payments and controls), Department of Finance (accounts receivable and billing coordination), DPW (landfill tipping-fee transactions and new software), and follow-ups on federal grant management and prior audit findings.

Why it matters: the commission provides guidance that shapes which agency operations the auditor examines; those audits aim to produce recommendations the city can use to improve service delivery and financial stewardship. Cohen said oversight must produce action, noting that “too often, reports issued by our city auditor sit on shelves when their recommendations should be guiding corrective actions and operational improvements.”

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