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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: May 16, 2006 <br />Action Age ~ a a <br />Item No. -L <br />SUBJECT: Audit Contract for the June 30, 2006 Fiscal Year <br />DEPARTMENT: Finance PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Contracts and Engagement Letters <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Ken Chavious, 919-245-2453 <br />PURPOSE: To consider awarding contracts to Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, Certified Public <br />Accountants, for the provision of audit services for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006. <br />BACKGROUND: "The Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act" requires all units of <br />government in the State to undergo an annual audit. During the spring of 2001, County staff <br />pursued the most recent request for proposal (RFP) process for financial audit services, Staff <br />recommended, and the Board approved, the proposal submitted by Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, <br />Certified Public Accounts. The RFP stated that the County would contract with the successful <br />firm for a period of three to five years. The 2005 audit marked the fifth year of working with this <br />firm. <br />Staff has been very pleased with the work performed on the audits for the past fiscal years. <br />The auditors performed their work in professional and timely manner and worked extremely well <br />with staff in the completion of the audit and production of the Comprehensive Annual Financial <br />Report (CAFR). In addition, a significant amount of service and advice has been provided <br />outside of the audit process aver the years, The overall audit casts paid by the County for the <br />past five years have been very competitive. The cost proposed for the 2006 audit remain <br />competitive and comparable to governments similar in size to the County. Cherry, Bekaert & <br />Holland has proposed a contract for the 2006 audit that reflects an increase of 3,3% over the <br />previous year, This increase is mainly the result of additional audit work required in the area of <br />compliance auditing or the "single audit" related to Federal and State grants and increased <br />travel costs. <br />In addition to the County's required audit, staff proposes to engage the firm to perform an audit <br />of the SportsPlex in accordance with the management agreement approved by the Board in <br />December 2005, Cherry, Bekaert & Holland has met with SportsPlex management and have <br />proposed to perform this audit at a cost of $17,500. The proposed amount is actually less than <br />the amount paid for the previous audit of the facility's financial operations ($20,000), While this <br />audit will be conducted in concert with the County's audit, separate audit reports (including <br />opinion letters) will be issued, <br />In light of excellent prior service from this auditing firm, staff recommend that the County <br />continue the relationship with Cherry Bekaert & Holland for the 2006 fiscal year audit and re- <br />