Oxnard finance committee forwards audit contract, housing budgets and several district actions to City Council

The City of Oxnard Finance and Governance Committee on May 13 approved and forwarded several staff recommendations to the full City Council, voting on consent minutes and multiple agenda items related to district assessments, housing budgets and a five-year audit services agreement.

Key committee votes and actions (summary):

- Approval of minutes for the April 22, 2025 Finance and Governance Committee meeting — motion carried 3–0.

- D-1: Accounting and financial risk assessment update (Finance Department) — committee voted 3–0 to forward the internal control/risk assessment update and recommend staff present the report to City Council. The item references the City of Oxnard finance policy 01/2005.

- D-2: Landscape Maintenance Districts (Public Works) — committee forwarded staff recommendations to initiate proceedings, approve a consolidated engineer's report and declare intention to levy assessments, with the public hearing set for June 17, 2025 (vote 2–1). That item is covered in depth in a separate article because it drew extended legal and policy discussion on the Streets and Highways Code and reserve accounting.

- D-3: Mandalay Beach Maintenance District (Public Works) — the committee recommended that the City Council, acting as the legislative body for the Mandalay Beach Maintenance District, hold a public hearing on June 3, 2025 to receive testimony on proposed FY 2025–26 assessments and adopt a resolution to levy special tax assessments for FY 2025–26 (motion carried 2–1). Staff noted the district was formed under the Improvement Act of 1911 and that the 60/40 split of costs (assessed district vs. City cost share) dates to a 1983 council resolution; counsel noted that Proposition 218 grandfathering rules apply to many pre-Prop 218 districts.

- D-4: Modification of Community Facilities District (CFD) No. 9 — the committee voted 2–1 to recommend that City Council approve resolutions related to a deposit and reimbursement agreement and special tax disbursement agreement, consider changes to the rate and method of apportionment, increase certain special taxes and maximum bonded indebtedness, and related actions for CFD 9 (North Shore and Mandalay Bay). Staff explained failure to approve could affect developer financing and overall capacity of the district to deliver planned improvements.

- D-5: Housing Authority budgets (Housing Department) — the committee recommended that the Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority adopt operating budgets for the low-rent public housing and Housing Choice Voucher (section 8) programs for FY 2025–26 and authorize use of specified unrestricted cash to fund projected deficits. Interim Housing Director Brenda Lopez explained HUD project/account numbering (e.g., 311, 312 as HUD project numbers) and how centralized office cost-center (COCC) revenues and expenses are allocated among properties. The motion carried 3–0.

- D-6: Five-year agreement for annual financial and single audits (Finance Department) — the committee recommended approval of a five-year agreement with Macias Gini & O'Connell LLP for annual financial audits and single audits for federally funded programs. Committee members asked about the RFP outreach (45 unique views, six proposals submitted), and the RFP evaluation; City Attorney staff said proposals are not made public prior to award. The committee voted 3–0 to forward the recommended agreement.

Several items that drew notable committee questions included requests for clearer labeling of HUD project numbers in the housing budgets, assurance that consultant/contractor expense reimbursements will be supported with receipts, and requests for corrected engineer-report tables for LMDs. Staff committed to follow-up reports or corrected exhibits as needed before City Council consideration.

Below are the recorded formal actions and outcomes taken by the committee on May 13, 2025.