Audit committee delays review of Greater SATX agreement after documentation concerns

The City of San Antonio Audit Committee on Sept. 2 voted to move an internal audit of Greater SATX to the committee’s next meeting after members raised concerns that the Economic Development Department could not validate some of Greater SATX’s performance metrics.

Committee members said the audit’s summary statement—that the EDD service agreement with Greater SATX is “appropriately monitored”—contrasted with audit findings that Greater SATX “does not provide sufficient support documentation” for performance validation. Councilman White said the city gives “a significant amount of funding to Greater SATX” and that "we need to make sure... that we are getting the bang for our buck, if you will."

The audit was pulled from the consent agenda for discussion. Committee members and staff agreed to postpone formal action to allow Greater SATX representatives and additional members of the committee to be present. The chair directed staff to have the Greater SATX team appear at the next audit committee meeting so the committee could question them directly. The committee made and carried a motion to move the item to next month’s meeting.

City auditor Buddy Vargas and audit staff did not reach a final compliance determination at the meeting; instead, the committee sought further briefing and documentation that would allow staff to follow up on the audit’s performance-metric findings. Committee members also asked that a new committee member be briefed in advance of the follow-up discussion.

The committee did not take final action on the audit report at the Sept. 2 meeting; the item was continued to the next audit committee meeting so Greater SATX staff could respond to questions and provide supporting documentation.