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Board hires REDW for forensic audit of Curry County finances
Summary
The board approved hiring REDW to perform a forensic audit covering multiple years to reconcile deposits and disbursements across districts; commissioners said the audit should inform the 2026–27 budget cycle.
The Curry County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Sept. 23 to hire REDW to conduct a forensic audit of county finances, with an initial scope focused on reconciling deposits and disbursements across districts over the last four years.
The presiding commissioner said the goal is to have the treasury in an accurate state before the 2026–27 budget cycle so each district knows its available resources. Commissioners and staff discussed likely challenges, including the need for cooperation from about 40 special districts and the county’s own bandwidth to provide documents dating back multiple years. Director Fitzgerald said the treasurer has access to the necessary deposits and disbursements but that some corrections made in the past were not performed consistently.
Commissioners debated whether to structure payments to the auditor as milestone-based progress payments or as calendarized payments. Some commissioners were reluctant to condition payments on actions outside the county’s control (such as responsiveness by outbound districts) and emphasized that phase 1 should be a foundation for later, deeper work if anomalies are found.
A motion to approve REDW’s proposal to complete the forensic audit passed unanimously. Commissioners asked staff to schedule REDW promptly; in the bid, REDW estimated team availability to meet the board’s timeline.
