Audit committee approves risk‑focused fiscal year 2026 audit plan centered on IT, purchasing and courts

Brian Smith, city auditor, presented the City Auditor’s fiscal year 2026 audit plan to the Audit Oversight Committee on July 21, 2025 and asked for the committee’s approval of a risk‑focused approach. The committee approved the plan by motion.

Smith said the office follows the Government Accountability Office’s Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS) and that the office intends to focus audits on higher‑risk areas and fraud vulnerabilities rather than auditing every department over a five‑year rotation. He summarized proposed audit areas including IT information security and software controls (in addition to a mobile devices audit already underway), purchasing, human resources employee separation procedures (underway), municipal court controls including witness fee payment controls, and public works functions.

Smith said the audit office is small — himself, four auditors and a senior management analyst — and emphasized the need to concentrate work where it provides the most value. He described ongoing work on unannounced visits to payment collection points, follow‑up verification of previously issued recommendations and a readiness to accept special audit requests and fraud investigations when they arise. Committee members praised the plan and asked how the office budgets time for unplanned special requests and investigations; Smith said the plan will include a cushion to allow for that work and that the office will further refine its selection process.

A motion to approve the fiscal year 2026 audit plan was made and carried.