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Cuyahoga County audit committee debates co‑sourcing auditors as budget pressures mount
Summary
The county audit committee reviewed 2025–27 budget projections and debated hiring in‑house IT auditors versus co‑sourcing specialized audit work; staff will develop a value proposition and seek cost estimates before formal budget requests to the Office of Budget and Management.
Corey, internal audit director, told the Cuyahoga County Audit Committee that the department expects to remain under budget for 2025 aside from an unanticipated unemployment expense, but that projected operating increases for 2026–27 include training, certification reimbursements and a required external peer review.
Corey described options to address gaps in IT audit capability identified by Janice and Associates, which recommended one to two dedicated IT auditors. He said the department is weighing hiring senior IT staff against a co‑sourcing model in which the county would maintain a pool of qualified firms for specific engagements. "Co‑sourcing would provide live training on specialized skills for internal staff who can learn from external professionals," Corey said, adding that co‑sourcing can be budgeted per project to limit long‑term payroll and benefits costs.
Committee members responded with mixed views. Speaker 3 and others argued that co‑sourcing allows staff to gain experience while avoiding the difficulty and cost of hiring senior IT auditors. "An IT cybersecurity audit — it's co‑sourced this time; the staff sees what's going on and we're ready to do it the next time," Speaker 3 said.
But Speaker 8 and others cautioned that the proposed additions would amount to about a 14% increase from the 2025 budget and flagged countywide deficit pressures. "We're facing a significant budget deficit this year," Speaker 8 said, urging a clear return‑on‑investment case before advancing new budget requests.
Corey described an administrative model used by another city — issuing an RFQ every five years to build a vendor list and then asking for proposals for specific audits — and said he has contacts to collect preliminary pricing if the committee wants to proceed. The committee asked staff to prepare a concise value proposition (ROI), cost estimates and procurement approach for consideration during upcoming budget meetings with the Office of Budget and Management.
Next steps: staff will gather vendor cost estimates and ROI analyses and report back to the committee before formal budget submission; no formal budget approval was requested at the meeting.
