Carson City Audit Committee Meeting - June 16, 2026
Carson City Audit Committee Meeting - June 16, 2026
Meeting called to order at 9:30 AM by Chair Shuddy with Vice Chair Lambon present, constituting a quorum. The committee reviewed the Public Guardian Asset Management Assessment, closed a prior audit finding, received an update on the FY26 audit work program, and discussed the proposed FY27 internal audit plan including a potential swap of the franchise fee assessment for a sales tax completeness audit. All votes were unanimous.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes (Agenda Item 4): Motion to accept minutes from the previous meeting. Seconded. All in favor, no opposition or abstentions. Minutes approved.
Discussion Items
- 5A – Public Guardian Asset Management Assessment: Senior Manager Audrey Donovan and Kathy from ID Bailey presented the review. The assessment covered FY2025-2026 and found adequate controls and processes to safeguard ward assets, with no exceptions in transaction completeness or accuracy. Two findings were identified: (1) policies and procedures need formal updating and ownership assignment, and (2) review and oversight controls need better documentation to demonstrate consistent application. Management (Public Guardian Sandra and Deputy Public Guardian) agreed with recommendations and have already implemented or are implementing corrective actions, including completion of a five-volume standard office procedures manual, purchase of preparer/approval stamps, and working with IT to adjust QuickBooks user profiles within 30 days. Audit committee members praised the significant improvement from over 20 findings in the prior audit.
- 5B – Closure of Previous Audit Finding: Discussion on closing Finding #1 from the asset management review (capital asset disposals presentation to the board). CFO Sherry Russell reported that her initial plan to present disposals during the budget cycle did not proceed; the board preferred to see them with the audit. She presented the disposals on May 21, 2026, and will continue presenting in December with the audit going forward. A spelling error noted by committee member Lisa will be corrected. The committee approved closure.
- 5C – FY26 Audit Work Program Update and Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Hotline Activity: Audrey Donovan reported that all FY26 engagements (risk assessment update, Public Guardian assessment, capital asset accounting, credit card payment security/compliance) are completed on track and on budget. Final invoice of approximately $17,000 remains from the $110,000 budget. The fraud, waste, and abuse hotline has had no reported activity since October 2025.
- 5D – FY27 Risk Assessment and Internal Audit Plan Recommendation: Sherry Russell proposed swapping the franchise fee assessment (originally in the plan) with a sales tax completeness audit focusing on auto sales and other major categories, contingent on obtaining data from the state (company names to identify missing taxpayers). If data cannot be obtained, the franchise fee assessment will proceed. Audrey Donovan advised that reducing scope on other engagements (cybersecurity, fire department) is not feasible as they are already at minimums. The committee discussed and then motioned to recommend to the Board of Supervisors the FY27 internal audit work program with the potential change as discussed on the record. Motion seconded and passed unanimously.
- 5E – Next Meeting Date: Scheduled for Tuesday, October 20, 2026, to align with the start of the annual audit. The date was confirmed to work for all members and ID Bailey.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the Public Guardian Asset Management Assessment report as presented (unanimous vote).
- Closed prior audit finding on capital asset disposals (Finding #1) (unanimous vote).
- Recommended to the Board of Supervisors the FY27 internal audit work program, with the understanding that the franchise fee assessment will be swapped for a sales tax completeness audit if state data is obtainable; otherwise, the original franchise fee assessment remains (unanimous motion).
- Set next Audit Committee meeting for October 20, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
I would like to call the uh audit committee to order. Um, can we please have a roll call? Chair Shuddy. Here, Vice Chair Lambon. We have a quorum. Thank you. Um next on our agenda public comment. Uh is anyone in the public who would like to make public comments. Seeing none, we go to agenda item four, uh, for possible action approval of minutes. Corrections or changes. I would move that we accept the minutes from last reading. I'll second. Excellent. All in favor. Aye. Aye. And anyone opposed or abstained. No. Thank you. Minutes are approved. Then next on our agenda, five A for possible action. Discussion and possible action regarding the monitoring, review, and closure of previous internal audit findings and/or recommendations, including in the audit findings tracking report and a recommendation to the board of supervisors to close completed findings. Are you for? I'm sorry, you're reading five. I am I'm sorry, I am reading from the last meeting notes. Okay, let's try this again. I thought it just was reading weird, so my apologies. Let's try this again. Meeting items 5A, take two. Okay. For possible action, discussion and possible action regarding report prepared by the Carson City Internal Auditor, Id Bailey, LLP for fiscal year 2026 audit work program concerning the Carson City Public Guardian Asset Management Assessment, including findings and recommendations. That makes much more sense. That's the one, yep. Um Sherry Russell Benabuchi Financial Officer for the Record. And I'm going to turn this straight over to Audrey Donovan and her team for to go over the findings. Hi, Audrey. Thank you, Sherry. Hi, thank you. Audrey Donovan, senior manager with ID Bailey. And I do want to thank you, audit committee chair and audit committee members for being here today. Kathy has prepared a briefing for the public guardian asset management assessment. And then we also, I notice they are in attendance as well, the public guardian and deputy public guardian. Um Kathy, I'll go ahead and turn it over to you for the briefing. Alright, thank you, Audrey, and good afternoon, everyone. Um I will be walking through the public guardian review here, and um at this time we would also like to express our gratitude to everyone involved in conducting this engagement, particularly the public guardian, of course, hello, and the deputy public guardian, and um, of course, our amazing nays and sherry. So um the public guardian asset management was identified as a risk area in the FY25 risk assessment report. Oops, sorry. Um risk assessment report, and as such, it was approved as an internal audit project. Um the objective of this uh review was to assess the adequacy of controls and procedures in place to protect the assets of wards under guardianship from laws, misuse, or unauthorized transactions. The scope of the engagement was for the most recent fiscal year from July 1st, 2025, through current operations.
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