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Council approves paying auditor—s overrun of $23,700, asks for future progress billings
Summary
The board approved paying Trout Beeman $23,700 (a 50% share of a reported $47,400 overrun) for additional work on the FY2023 audit and requested progress billings in future engagements; staff cited missing prior records and system-conversion data loss as causes for the overrun.
The board approved an unbudgeted payment of $23,700 to Trout Beeman as a proposed 50% split of an unanticipated $47,400 overrun on the FY2023 audit.
Finance Director Stephanie Harris told the board Trout Beeman encountered unexpected problems including missing work papers from the prior auditor, numerous correcting entries that needed to be posted (25 adjusting entries for FY2023), and loss of utility-billing data during a CUSI system conversion that complicated testing. Trout Beeman requested the city split the extra cost 50/50; Harris said the firm had spent substantially more time on fieldwork because of those issues.
Board members expressed frustration that the auditor did not present progress billings earlier in the engagement; several members asked that future contracts require progress billings if an engagement runs long. A motion to approve payment of $23,700 to Trout Beeman, with the condition that future billings include progress invoices, was made and the board approved the payment.
The board asked staff to consider contractual language requiring progress billings and to review communications with the prior auditor, but no formal recovery action against the previous firm was authorized at the meeting.
