City internal audit staff presented findings from the fleet services audit (Legistar 910,045) to the Finance Committee on Dec. 1. The audit identified: (1) allocation errors that expanded fleet costs by approximately $1.3 million (notably around fire apparatus and general vehicle purchases between 2020 and 2024); (2) at least two 2024 p‑card transactions that exceeded the city’s $10,000 single‑transaction policy limit; and (3) discrepancies between finance and fleet asset records for assets with hard components, creating a need for reconciliations and stronger inventory monitoring.

"We made recommendations that help to strengthen controls to prevent similar errors going forward," audit staff said, summarizing the report. Fleet leadership acknowledged the errors and said some were discovered earlier in the year; Rachel, assistant fleet superintendent, said the division will hire an operations clerk in the new budget year to focus on parts inventory and ramp up reconciliation practices.

The audit prompted questions about making fire whole for prior misallocations. Fleet staff and fire leadership described a plan to identify apparatus replacements in future capital submissions and to sequence recoveries so Fire Department capital needs are restored without unduly harming other agencies. Finance staff said journal entries and accounting corrections are an ongoing process.

The audit report also recommended policies and protocols to ensure compliance with the city’s p‑card limits and to improve verification of fleet inventory through periodic checks. The committee received the presentation; no committee action was required on this item.

Next steps: Fleet and finance staff will reconcile asset and journal records, implement recommended controls, recruit an operations clerk, and present updates on audit implementation in the January meeting cycle.