Board stalls on hiring for city audit

A recommendation by Holly Springs Mayor Sharon Gipson to hire auditor Bruno & Tervalon CPAs firm to audit the city drew fire from aldermen at the August 15 meeting of the mayor and board of aldermen.

Gipson said hiring a second auditor would help get the city’s audits up to date.

Formerly, Watkins, Ward & Stafford has performed audits for both the City of Holly Springs and the Holly Springs Utility Department. But audits on the utility side are behind, with year 2021 essentially complete, but not yet signed over, and year 2022 yet to be completed by Watkins, Ward & Stafford. The year 2023 audit of the utility department is due in September.

Gipson said hiring another company to audit the city is an effort to catch up because yearly audits got behind during the COVID-19 pandemic. She wants to catch up on the city’s audit for year 2022. She said she looked at several firms and Bruno & Tervalon CPAs stuck out as she searched. The company has worked with a number of municipalities, she said.

“This will be an opportunity to have someone to come in and help move this forward,” Gipson said.

Ward 4 alderman Patricia Merriweather asked when the audit would begin and end.

Representative Trost Friedler, with Bruno & Tervalon, said the audit could be done in a three to six month window, but could be complete in 90 days.

“A lot depends on how organized this information is,” he said.

Ward 2 alderman Andre Jones expressed hesitation.

His main stated concern is how long it is going to take to complete the audit and who is responsible for pulling the information for the city audit.

“We’re in year 2023 and it concerns me we do not have an audit complete for 2021,” Jones said.

Friedler said his firm’s strong point is that the firm likes to build relationships with its clients.

“If you give us the project, we will give you audit reports. We will be happy to give you progress reports so you can understand what we are doing,” he said.

Jones said he questions why Watkins, Ward & Stafford has not reported on its audits to the city.

Gipson said that company is approved to do the audit for 2023 for the utility company but has not yet started on that year’s audit. Watkins, Ward & Stafford have not been retained to do the city audit, she said.

“We’ve got to move the city forward. We’ve got to go ahead and close it out,” Gipson said of the city audit.

Watkins Ward & Stafford was hired to audit the city for year 2022, she said.

“We were behind when we first arrived (July 1, 2021) in both the city and Holly Springs Utility Department audits,” Gipson said.

Gipson said the company will help the city move forward with the city’s procedures and policies to assure the taxpayers.

Jones said the city should have brought Bruno & Tervalon in place a year and a half ago.

“My question is, ‘what’s going on with the audits?” he asked.

Ward 1 alderman Bernita Fountain said the board has been asking about the city audit for at least six months.

“Before I could make a decision on a new audit, I would need to know clearly if it was on behalf of Watkins, Ward & Stafford,” she said.

“I talked with Watkins, Ward & Stafford and they said it was an employee concern,” Jones said. “They are not getting the documentation.”

Merriweather said before going with another company the board needs clarity and closure on the past audits “so we don’t repeat it.”

Gipson said Watkins, Ward & Stafford were behind on both the city audit and the utility audits when this administration came in July 2021.

“They were late when we came in due to COVID,” said city clerk Jerrica Jones. “They finished the audit for the city in 2021.”

Gipson said the audit is about using all the city’s resources.

“Frankly, I think it would be good to have some fresh eyes on it,” the mayor said.

She said Watkins Ward & Stafford has served as auditor for the city for about 20 years.

“They have delays when it’s tax season, so this will benefit the city to take some load off,” Gipson said. “They were delayed by COVID.”

Jones said he is concerned about getting the documentation prioritized so the audits are completed as soon as possible.

“The plan is sitting before you,” Gipson said. “Fresh eyes and manpower so we can close it out. They provided all the credentials here. We inherited Watkins Ward & Stafford. I did check online and this (Bruno &Tervalon) was the one that stuck out.”

Gipson asked how many auditors Bruno & Tervalon has. Friedler said about 15.

Merriweather pressed for clarity.

“I think we need to get some clarity around the audit company we have,” she said. “If they are saying they are not getting documents…..We want to know what is the hold up?”

Friedler said if his auditors do not get documentation, he will make the mayor aware of it immediately.

“Are you saying you want a delay in the city audit?” Gipson asked.

Jones said the city audit for year 2022 was due October of last year.

Merriweather said she wants to wait for more information about the ability of the city employees to get the documentation to the auditors so that the problem in getting audits completed is made clear. She does not want the same complaints going forward.

“We want the product,” she said. “We want the audit done. And in order to do the audit, you have to have the documents and things you need.”

Gipson pressed to get the auditor (Bruno & Tervalon) approved citing a delay in the completion of the cast-iron gas pipe replacement project because of lack of audit reports.

Gipson said Watkins, Ward & Stafford was engaged for year 2021, but no company has been approved to do the 2022 audit for the city.

“And it looks like we still are not going to get an audit tonight,” Gipson said.

Bruno & Tervalon, CPAs, is the largest minority-owned firm in the state of Louisiana and second largest in Mississippi.