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Council awards citywide audit contract to CliftonLarsonAllen after RFQ
Summary
CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) won the city’s auditing services contract; staff said CLA’s proposal fit the city’s budget, represented a 35% discount off standard rates and covers 10 financial audits plus additional agreed‑upon procedures.
The Amarillo City Council voted to award auditing services to CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) after a request‑for‑qualifications process that evaluated eight proposals.
Katrina Owens, the city’s director of finance, told the council CLA scored highest on the RFQ and that the firm’s proposal fits the city’s budget. CLA principals said the firm offered a significant discount — Owens and CLA representatives said the engagement fees reflect an approximately 35% discount off the firm’s standard rates to meet city budget targets.
CLA described the scope as the annual comprehensive financial audit plus nine component-unit audits and additional engagements: two agreed‑upon procedures (a tobacco‑settlement review for the hospital district and a HUD agreed‑upon procedures task), and an examination related to TCEQ compliance. CLA estimated about 3,175 total hours across the suite of engagements; the firm also noted experience auditing many municipal entities and large public-sector programs.
Owens said the proposed fees represent roughly a 3% increase over the prior year’s actual costs but were within the finance department’s budget; the contract includes a multi‑year master services agreement with annual statements of work. Council members asked about rotation and oversight; CLA and staff explained that the master contract will include annual statements of work and the engagement will be renewed in practice each year.
Council adopted the award on a unanimous vote.
Why it matters: the contract covers the city’s primary annual financial reporting and federal/state single-audit requirements; council members said the larger firm’s resources better support an expanding and more complex audit workload.
