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Lee County supervisors approve committee recommendation to award forensic-audit contract to Bailey Group
Summary
At a Nov. 3 special meeting, the Lee County Board of Supervisors voted to approve a committee recommendation to award the countyforensic-audit RFP to the Bailey Group; board members discussed firm ties, a potential shared cost near $40,000, and public presentation of findings after the audit.
The Lee County Board of Supervisors voted during a Nov. 3 special call meeting to approve a committee recommendation to award the countyforensic-audit request for proposals to the Bailey Group.
A committee member told the board the three finalist firms were each interviewed for roughly 30 minutes and that a small review panel that included Kidwell and Shoemaker recommended the Bailey Group. "[The Bailey Group was] not necessarily the cheapest," the committee member said, "they thought that might be the best fit for this audit." The committee member provided copies of each proposal to board members on request.
Board members discussed potential conflicts and logistics. One participant noted the finalists are outside the county and local area; the committee member said at least one firm maintains an office in Florida and that other finalists have done work in Virginia (Wise). Members said nothing in the interviews disqualified any of the firms.
Cost and cost-sharing were discussed. A board member asked for a breakdown of how much the school system would pay if the expense were shared; the committee member estimated that if three entities split the work, the countyportion would come in at under $40,000. The committee member also said he had spoken by phone with "Mister Dean," who said he would communicate the estimate to his own board and requested notice of this meetingoutcome.
The committee and board emphasized that all three finalists appeared reputable and understood the scope of the forensic audit. Board members said each firm indicated a willingness to return after the audit to present findings publicly and describe how cooperative county staff and outside parties were during the review.
A board member moved to approve the committeerecommendation to award the RFP to the Bailey Group; the motion was seconded and the board voted in favor. Board members recorded that Supervisor Leonard was absent at the vote. The committee member then said there was no further business on the agenda.
The board made and seconded a motion to adjourn and voted to close the special meeting.
What happens next: the approved firm is expected to begin work per the countyprocurement process and to present audit findings to the board publicly when the review is complete. The transcript did not specify contract value, a firmstart date, or a formal vote tally beyond verbal "aye" responses; those details were not provided in the record.
