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Audit finds City of El Paso budget transfers largely compliant; OMB formalizes procedures
Summary
An audit of City of El Paso budget transfers found supporting documentation and approvals were in place; the Office of Management and Budget created a formal standard operating procedure and the committee accepted the audit report unanimously.
The Financial Oversight and Audit Committee voted unanimously to accept the audit report on the City of El Paso’s budget transfer process, which found that transfers were generally supported and approved in accordance with established limits but that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had not maintained a single formal standard operating procedure for the process.
The audit, covering Sep. 1, 2024, through Apr. 9, 2025, tested whether OMB had written procedures, whether departments provided required budget-status reports with transfer requests, and whether approval thresholds were enforced. The report found the transfer tiers were handled properly: department/OMB approvals for transfers up to $50,000; city manager/designee approvals for $50,001–$100,000; and city council approval for transfers over $100,000.
Miguel, the audit presenter, said OMB “had the supporting documentation on file” and that the external annual financial audit had not raised concerns about budget transfers. The audit recommended OMB create and publish comprehensive written procedures for handling transfers; OMB responded that budget transfer governance is also set by the annual budget resolution and provided a draft SOP. The audit team reviewed OMB’s draft procedures and concluded the corrective action was in place; the audit office will not schedule a follow-up audit for this finding because OMB already implemented the recommended corrective action.
Representative Maldonado Rocha asked about the audit sampling and counts. The audit team replied that there were 612 budget transfers in the population for the period reviewed: 362 were under $50,000; 64 were between $50,001 and $100,000; and 186 were over $100,000. The team described the statistical-sample calculation used to select items for detailed testing and said the selected sample met standard sampling methodology used by internal auditors.
Representative Chavez moved to approve the audit report; the committee’s vote was recorded as unanimous, 4–0 in favor.
The audit office said OMB’s corrective action target completion date for creating a comprehensive written budget-transfer procedure was Aug. 8, 2025, and that OMB planned to disseminate the procedure to staff and provide training to support compliance.
