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Council approves Brooks Watson as city auditor after debate over late 2024 report
Summary
After public comment urging reliability over cost, the Navasota City Council voted to hire Brooks Watson & Company PLLC as external auditors for FY2026–29 with an option to extend; staff said turnover and single‑audit complexity contributed to last year’s delay and will add notification requirements to the contract.
The Navasota City Council voted Sept. 22 to select Brooks Watson & Company PLLC as the city’s external auditors for the fiscal years ending Sept. 30, 2026–2029, with an option to extend.
During public comment, resident Taylor Perry urged the council to prioritize reliability and timeliness over price, saying Brooks Watson delivered the city’s 2024 audit months late. City staff acknowledged that the 2024 audit was late, attributing delays to turnover in the finance department and the city manager’s office and the added complexity of a single audit tied to federal funding thresholds. Staff recommended re‑engaging Brooks Watson to avoid the learning curve of bringing in a brand‑new firm.
Louis Breedlove, identified in the meeting as representing Brooks Watson, said the company expected to meet future deadlines and pointed to circumstances in 2024 that made timely completion difficult. Council members pressed the firm and staff on timeline milestones and sought contractual safeguards: staff agreed to add a written notification provision to alert council directly if the audit timeline slips, and to consider creating an audit committee or scheduled timeline updates as extra oversight.
Council member Mr. Harris moved to approve Brooks Watson and Mr. Gessner seconded; the motion was amended to include the written notification requirement and carried without recorded opposition.
The council discussed the firm’s proposed fee, which reflects an increase tied to the city’s audit complexity and an estimated increase in required hours; Brooks Watson said the estimate was adjusted after completing the first audit and learning the true scope of work. The contract includes a 30‑day termination clause, which staff noted would allow the council to end the engagement if performance is unsatisfactory.
Next steps: staff will finalize the contract language to include direct notification to council for timeline delays and begin the onboarding process with the firm.
