Commissioner urges forensic audit of Cooper City's BSO costs; colleagues seek staff review first

A commissioner called for a forensic audit focused solely on Cooper City's assigned costs in the Broward Sheriff's Office contracts, citing discrepancies in ancillary-cost and insurance figures and saying, "I would like to see if I can get approval from you all to have a forensic audit done on just Cooper City's costs."

Other commissioners raised concerns about tone and feasibility; one warned that an immediate vote to forensic-audit BSO would create a poor political tone and noted past votes to audit that were not executed. The City Attorney and City Manager responded that the commission has the authority to engage an audit and that the contract already requires quarterly line-item budget-versus-actual reports and gives the manager a right to request supporting documentation. Staff and several commissioners agreed on a compromise: the city will first ask for enhanced internal reports on budget versus actuals for BSO activity and prepare a staff report on the scope, cost and likely process for any forensic audit before deciding whether to commission one externally.

BSO representatives said contract-city dollars are accounted differently from county general-fund dollars and that required reports have been part of the negotiated changes. The commission did not immediately order a forensic audit but directed staff to prepare a scope-and-cost report for a future meeting.