Finance, Audit and Budget Committee Meeting - March 10, 2026
Finance, Audit and Budget Committee Meeting - March 10, 2026
The Finance, Audit and Budget Committee met on March 10, 2026, with a light agenda. The meeting began with approval of minutes and a purchasing change order, followed by a discussion of the committee's goals and priorities for the year.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The committee unanimously approved the minutes from the February 25, 2026 special call meeting.
- Purchasing Change Order: Approved Change Order No. 1 to Contract No. 200316 (statewide contract) for end-user computing for the Marshal's Office. The change order increases contract funds awarded to Panasonic Connect North America / ProLogic ITS LLC by $107,286.30 for laptops, service packages, and accessories. The committee noted the purchase was already budgeted. Approved unanimously.
Discussion Items
- Budget Approval Timeline: Commissioner Johnson proposed working towards approving the county budget by December 31, the end of the fiscal year, rather than the current March 1 deadline. Commissioner Long Spears agreed, noting that under the county's organizational act, discretionary and reserve funds cannot be spent until the budget is approved, effectively compressing spending into seven months. Both supported moving constitutional hearings earlier in the process. Chair Tethery supported these ideas and suggested committees could develop budget recommendations before the CEO's December 15 submission.
- Financial Reporting: Commissioner Long Spears recommended consistent quarterly financial statement reviews, citing the org act's requirement for quarterly reports to be published and posted. The committee agreed to quarterly reviews, beginning with year-end 2025 statements at the next meeting. Discussion included modernizing publication of reports (e.g., using QR codes) to comply with the org act.
- Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Prioritization: Commissioner Long Spears emphasized the commission's duty to prioritize capital projects and requested a more structured CIP process. Chair Tethery asked for a CIP update and timeline at the next FAB meeting. Chief of Staff Zach stated internal CIP discussions are underway and an update will be provided.
- Other Priorities: Chair Tethery outlined additional focus areas: a diversion center (from sheriff's office presentation), legal aid for eviction court (noting 91% of tenants lack representation), cash bail reform (addressing a recent law mandating cash bail for more offenses), and continued water assistance program oversight. Commissioner Long Spears also suggested developing a purchasing ordinance.
- Operational Audit Updates: Commissioner Johnson asked for updates from Malden and Jenkins on departmental assessments. The chief of staff indicated updates will be provided in the next cycle of committee meetings.
Key Outcomes
- Approved minutes and the purchasing change order (both unanimous).
- Agreed to work towards an earlier budget adoption target (December 31/January) and to begin committee budget discussions earlier.
- Agreed to quarterly financial statement reviews, with the first review (year-end 2025) at the next meeting.
- Directed staff to draft a committee work plan and goals for a future retreat.
- Will invite the Office of Independent Internal Audit to present its annual work plan.
- Next FAB meeting will include a CIP update and timeline.
- Staff will review compliance with org act financial reporting requirements (publication/posting) and propose modernized methods.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us at our newly scheduled uh finance audit and budget committee time. Thank you, Madam Presiding Officer. Uh appreciate the the switch up. And we actually have a pretty light agenda today, so we'll just jump right in and of course uh joined by myself, Commissioner Tethery, the Chair, Commissioner Presiding Officer Shakira Johnson, and then uh Commissioner Mr. Long Spears, I think we'll be here shortly. She's just taking a call, I think. So um we will just jump right into the meeting minutes first for the last meeting, February 25th, which is our special call meeting. And I'll uh take a motion for that item. Move to approve item ending in 0492. Just the minutes. Yes. Second. All right. Motion. Second. All in favor is against aye. Aye. Chair votes. Motion carries. All right, let's do our purchasing item first. Item 0316, change order number one to contract number 200316, statewide contract. Long number there, end user computing per use by the Marshall's office. Contract consists of the purchase of laptops, service package bundles, and related accessories. The request seeks to increase contract funds awarded to Panasonic Connect North America Division of Panasonic Corporation of North America. C O ProLogic ITS LLC amount not to exceed 107,286.30 cents. And um I know this is for the Marshall's office. Um did I did IT work on this at all? No, it's certainly separate. Okay, all right. Um, so I mean the Marshall, this is for their laptops in their vehicles, I guess. Or I think we've done this before, so here's the uh agenda item. Okay. I think I feel like we budgeted this already, didn't we? So this is expected. I apologize to the second. Oh, that we are this is already in the budget, wasn't it? I believe so. And this looks like it's talking about uh purchasing lap stocks, service bundles related accessories. Ruggedized computing, as if there's like the topics, yeah. Okay, so this is basically for the field. Okay. All right, um, commissioners, any questions, comments? No, I'm good with it. Okay, open the floor for motion. Motion to approve. Second. All right, all in favor. Aye. Aye.
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