City auditor outlines proposed 2026 audit plan; committee votes to forward to council Oct. 9

City Auditor Buddy Vargas presented the proposed 2026 annual audit plan to the City of San Antonio Audit Committee on Sept. 2 and the committee voted to forward the plan to City Council for review at the Oct. 9 a session.

Vargas said the office starts with roughly 80 candidate audits, applies a high‑level risk assessment and reduces that list to a manageable plan. The proposed 2026 plan includes 32 performance audits, three consulting projects, reserved hours for special requests and follow‑up work, and data‑analysis functions. Vargas said about 10 of the planned audits have a significant revenue or expenditure focus to address the city’s budget shortfall. He also cited audits tied to recent local flooding and the newly formed Homeless Services Department.

Committee members asked that the staff include a column showing when each department was last audited; Vargas agreed to add the matrix showing audit history and last audit dates before the council session. Councilman White praised the work’s importance during a period of budget constraints, saying it is “extremely important that we know that we're spending the taxpayers money appropriately.” The committee made and carried a motion to transmit the plan to City Council for consideration on Oct. 9.

Vargas said the plan remains adaptive: audits can be added or reprioritized during the year when risk changes. The committee noted that some audits from the 2025 plan—such as aviation parking operations and SAP upgrade work—were deferred to 2026 after vendors or system changes reduced near‑term audit value.

The committee’s vote to forward the plan will place the proposed audit schedule on the Oct. 9 council agenda for formal approval.