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Ad hoc committee recommends continuing with RSM as Danbury's auditors for FY25; members urge future competitive bid
Summary
Danbury City’s ad hoc committee on independent auditors heard staff recommend keeping RSM for the FY25 audit, citing institutional knowledge and a limited municipal audit market. Committee members pressed staff on increased audit hours, rising hourly rates and urged a formal competitive bid for FY26.
Frank Salvatore, chair of the ad hoc committee on appointment of independent auditors, opened the meeting and said the panel was convened to select independent auditors for the city.
The finance director recommended continuing the city’s engagement with RSM, which has served the city for about 20 years, saying there are “very limited firms that could do municipal audits” locally and that continuing with RSM would avoid delays while the city catches up on prior-year audit work. “We expect the '24 audit to be wrapped up, September,” the finance director said.
Staff and administration speakers framed continuity as a practical choice because of RSM’s institutional knowledge. A staff member argued that replacing RSM now would be disruptive: “RSM has a working knowledge of our city for the last 20 years,” the staff member said, urging the committee to continue with the incumbent for FY25.
Committee members focused on workload and cost. The finance director told the committee planned audit hours for prior years were substantially lower than hours actually used — earlier planning figures were roughly 2,000 hours versus about 4,600 hours in prior years — and that the plan for the '24 audit is about 2,100 hours. A committee member pressed staff on the audit budget and on the city’s negotiations with RSM over hourly rates, noting the hourly rate rose between '23 and '24 and asking what steps had been taken to hold costs down.
On negotiations, the finance director said RSM told staff it was operating at a loss on the engagement and would be reluctant to take another year at a loss, noting the firm expected increases tied to general cost pressures. The finance director also said some of the additional audit work reflected staffing changes and implementation of new accounting standards; staff referred to the recent accounting-standard implementation identified in the transcript as "87," which is the GASB 87 lease-accounting standard.
While staff recommended renewal for FY25, a committee member urged that the city run a formal competitive solicitation for the FY26 audit. “I think we really need to do a more formalized either bid,” the committee member said, adding they were willing to approve continuation this year but wanted a formal process next cycle.
There was no formal vote recorded in the transcript on the FY25 appointment. The meeting closed with staff directed to continue audit work on the '24 engagement and with the committee signaling a preference to renew with RSM for FY25 while planning a formal procurement for FY26.
