City auditor seeks brief deadline extension for two audits; committee approves budget realignment

The City Auditor asked the Policy & Services Committee to extend reporting deadlines for two FY2024 audit task orders and to realign task‑order budgets with a net‑zero impact across fiscal years.

Auditor Kate Murdock said the emergency preparedness audit — previously reviewed by the committee and pulled from a consent calendar in June — will now be presented to the full council on Oct. 27 and requested the reporting deadline be extended through Oct. 31 to accommodate work still in progress. The auditor also requested a deadline extension for a dispatch center assessment that will come to the committee on Sept. 9.

Murdock said the office reduced the follow‑up audit activity budget by $14,500 and added that amount to the two active task orders to cover additional staff time and analysis. She described the audits as complex and said additional collaboration with management and cross‑department coordination, especially for the dispatch assessment, drove the need for more time and budget.

Committee members asked whether the additional budget represented new work and whether the follow‑up audit work would still proceed; Murdock said the follow‑up work exists but had been overestimated and the office was adjusting estimates to better align with expected effort. Council Member Lillard moved the staff recommendation; the committee approved the extension and budget realignment.