Deltona narrows forensic‑audit pursuit after bidders cite scope and price; staff directed to renegotiate at $500,000 cap
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Summary
After receiving a single responsive bid at $1.325 million and public demand for a forensic audit, the commission rejected a motion to move the full reserved litigation funds to stormwater, then approved direction to staff to negotiate a narrowed forensic‑audit scope (focused review of procedures/selected years) capped at $500,000 and return for final approval.
Deltona commissioners directed staff to renegotiate the scope of a proposed forensic audit after an initial solicitation produced one fully responsive bid priced at about $1.325 million.
Finance reported an extended RFP process with 59 questions and multiple nonresponsive submissions. Carr, Riggs & Ingram was the only responsive bidder; staff said several respondents failed to acknowledge addenda and therefore were deemed nonresponsive under procurement rules. The Carr, Riggs & Ingram proposal included pricing for multiple years; the total for the broad scope was $1,325,000.
Public speakers urged an independent forensic audit paid from previously reserved litigation funds, but some commissioners and staff cautioned the full scope and price would be prohibitively large. A motion to reject the bids and reallocate the reserved funds to stormwater projects tied 3‑3 and failed. Later, a separate motion — to proceed by negotiating a narrower scope of work with the responsive bidder (and coordinating with the city’s current auditors) with a not‑to‑exceed budget of $500,000 and return for final commission approval — passed 4‑2.
Staff said a narrowed scope could focus on policy and procedural review, a shorter multi‑year window (for example two fiscal years), or targeted transactional sampling instead of a full, city‑wide, multi‑year review. The finance director warned the work is laborious for both consultants and city staff and said narrowing the scope will materially reduce cost and staff time. Commissioners asked for a revised scope and cost proposal to be returned at the first commission meeting in January.
Next steps: staff will circulate the original RFP scope to commissioners, solicit direction on specific years, departments or transactions to include, negotiate a revised scope with Carr, Riggs & Ingram (and explore collaboration with the city’s external auditors), and present a final scope and price not to exceed $500,000 for the commission’s approval.
