Background/Discussion
Due to an unexpected announcement by the current audit firm, RSM, they will are unable to perform the City's annual audit for fiscal year 2024 and meet the City's deadline. Therefore, an immediate Request for Proposal (RFP) for Professional Auditing Services was issued on May 21, 2024. The request was posted on the City’s website. Additionally, several firms were directly contacted who are currently engaged by other cities within the state of Iowa.
The City received two qualified proposals. The proposals were reviewed by a designated committee consisting of employees from the City’s finance team. The proposals were evaluated for technical qualifications, audit approach, customer service and price. Additionally, references were reviewed and interviews were held with each firm.
Pricing for the two firms were as follows:
Forvis Mazars, LLP fees, including assistance with the ACFR preparation, totaled $122,250, $130,010 and $136,895 for fiscal years 2024, 2025 and 2026, respectively.
Clifton Larson Allen LLP fees, including assistance with the ACFR preparation, totaled $98,400, $104,600 and $110,400 for fiscal years 2024, 2025 and 2026, respectively.
As a point of reference the City paid $89,750 for audit services for fiscal year 2023 and budgeted $90,000 and $85,500 for fiscal years 2024 and 2025, respectively. The City plans to amend the budget for fiscal year 2025 and plan accordingly for fiscal year 2026 to account for the increase in cost, driven by the level of service to be received and inflation costs seen since 2019.
Additionally, both firms priced the services of auditing the City’s component unit, which included the Council Bluffs Library Foundation and Council Bluffs Airport Authority. If these organizations choose to be part of the audit contract, the City will pay the total of those audit services and then bill those organization for the audit services provided. At this time, the Council Bluffs Airport Authority has elected to utilize a private firm selected by the Airport Authority Board.
After evaluation of the criteria listed above, the evaluation team recommends that Forvis Mazars, LLP be awarded the contract for Professional Auditing Services for the City of Council Bluffs. The engagement would begin with the audit of the upcoming financial statements for Fiscal Year 2024 and continue through Fiscal Year 2026. An option to continue for an additional three years is available.