Council awards city audit contract, adds MD&A request; approves $1M EPA water grant task order

The council unanimously approved selection of Brown Armstrong Accounting Corporation to provide the city’s annual financial audits under the recommended RFP scoring (expertise, approach and cost). The proposed contract amount is $45,980 per year for three years with optional extensions. Council asked staff to add a Management’s Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) requirement to the engagement so citizens can more easily understand the city’s financial position; the motion to approve the contract plus MD&A passed 4–0.

Public commenters encouraged audit approaches that include periodic or continuous audit checks and urged careful review of engagement terms and potential conflicts. Staff said the recommended firm had no direct recent municipal audit contract with the city but had prepared regional paperwork (KERNCOG) and that personnel changes in an audit team would require city approval.

Separately, the council approved a task order for the city engineer (BHT) to begin design and project management for the Upper Rancho Water Replacement Project. The city received a $1,000,000 EPA construction-only grant for the project; BHT’s first-phase task order for design and grant compliance is $74,425. Council approved the task order and adopted resolution 26-3224 by a 4–0 vote.

Councilmembers asked staff to coordinate any additional consultant work needed to prepare audit schedules and to avoid engaging firms with unresolved deliverables for new work. For the water project, staff noted the grant is for construction only and additional design/engineering or matching funds will be necessary for full project delivery; they will return with next steps to comply with state and federal requirements.

Both actions were approved unanimously and will proceed under the assigned departments' oversight.