County Auditor Crystal Brooks presented an update on the auditor’s office activities, summarizing completed audits, open recommendations and work in progress.

Brooks said the contract-management audit found one overspent contract of about $14,000 on a $2.1 million contract for meal service at the detention center, which management is addressing. An employee-benefits-administration audit found incorrect payroll-deduction rates for nine crossing guards; management corrected the rates and refunded the employees. An inmate-account-controls review found no substantive control failures but recommended improving the timeliness of reconciliations; the detention center assigned a backup to address the issue. Four hotel-tax audits identified recoverable amounts totaling just under $16,000 and those balances have been repaid to the county.

Brooks said the county’s external financial-statement audit for FY25 was completed with an unmodified opinion; the county also passed a required peer review of its audit office. Ongoing audits include water and sewer benefit assessments, payroll-control testing for the newly implemented county payroll system and environmental-services billing/collection controls; Brooks said she expects reports on some of these projects in the coming months. She invited councilors to the audit-advisory-board meeting scheduled for Feb. 24.

Council members thanked her for the work; several asked clarifying questions about audit scope and the interaction with human resources and vendors. Brooks said most open recommendations are tracked and management has plans to address them.