OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Audit Advisory Committee Regular Meeting - May 29, 2026

Meeting PortalFriday, May 29, 2026
BodyFort Smith, Arkansas
SessionMeeting Portal
DateFriday, May 29, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:05:12
Transcript — Verbatim
0:04

For purposes of the recording and introductions, we'll go around the room and around the school and introduce ourselves, and that also helps identify everybody's voice for purposes of the reporting.

0:14

So I'm Dina Enfield.

0:17

I am a citizen member and chair of the committee.

0:30

Amanda Strange, Director of Internal Audit.

0:35

Chris Belvinot.

0:36

For us Mazars.

0:39

Katie Flores for Miss Mazars.

0:42

I'm David Coleman with Forbes Mazars.

0:45

Neil Martin Audit Committee Audit Committee member of the Fortune Board of Directors.

0:52

Christina gets out as board of directors.

1:05

Thanks everybody for being here.

1:30

We have gone through and as a committee have talked through the procedures.

1:38

So that we specified the procedures to be performed.

1:42

Those were performed by Fortis Mazars.

1:44

They're still working on the draft of the report.

1:46

I believe there's a few pending items, and David will be talking about those.

1:52

And so as part of this process, we wanted to make sure that we as a committee had input into whether we felt like the procedures hit the items we were wanting it to.

2:05

If we need to come back and revise anything.

2:23

But the intent is that David and his team are here and they can go through the items and basically talk through each and every one so that it's very clear and we have specific input into those items.

2:34

So you have a draft of the report, you have the agenda, and the other thing I ask Amanda to get, she provided is a is the packet that for April, April correct, the April packet that Arm provides as part of the water park.

2:49

So as part of the discussions, I wanted to be sure if there are any things we want to recommend or that recommendations come and things we might want added to that for discussion purposes and tracking purposes going forward that we knew what was in that report now and what's being provided.

3:05

So Amanda, anything else you want to add?

3:10

Not right now, I think that was a good summation.

3:12

Okay.

3:13

So happy if anybody else has anything right now, and if not, I'll turn it over to David Coleman with Forbes Mazars to get going on the draft.

3:21

Alright, well, thank you.

3:22

Thank you very much for that introduction.

3:24

So uh I think you asked me, asked me to tell you a little bit about our firm.

3:28

So we are Formus Mazars, we used to be BKD.

3:31

Some of you might know BKD, but we we we merged with another firm a couple years ago with Nixon News Goodman, so now we're forwards Mazars.

3:41

Um we are one of the top 10 uh firms in the world.

3:45

Uh used to say country, but the the addition of Mazars made us uh a worldwide firm.

3:52

So um we do we do focus on industries, so uh myself, Katie and Katie and Fritz most of the time.

4:01

We focus on public sector and all things related to public sector, which includes franchise fees, audits like this.

4:09

So we've had a lot of experience working with entities like you all, um, and so that uh that that's a little bit about our firm.

4:19

So I had a few few remarks.

4:21

I was gonna just kind of tell you all, not meaning to repeat what you just said, but um we have been, you know.

4:28

If you all remember, I don't remember the exact date that we we talked with you all and determined that you all determined that this would be the best course of action uh for getting accomplished what you all wanted to accomplish as an agreed upon procedure rather than an audit.

4:43

Um we are this is not an audit.

4:45

We are doing an agreed-upon procedure.

4:47

We are auditors, um, but it isn't is a is a basically what we have done is Amanda worked um to come up with procedures with with your all with your input and then sent them to us, and we said we can and cannot do that under the attestation under the standards of agreed upon procedures.

4:59

So we didn't modify them materially, we added words here and there to make sure that we could accomplish what you all wanted us to accomplish.

5:16

So we are not rendering an opinion on the financial statements of this entity.

5:22

So we are essentially we were told to do these procedures, we're doing it and we're reporting the results.

5:29

So we have been working with ARM since we were engaged to do this work.

5:35

We started uh two or three months ago working with them, um, they have been cooperative with providing this information.

5:43

Um the procedures that we did perform were pretty thorough.

5:47

Um, when I say thorough, they were thorough in relation to the financial statements and the financial activities of the entity.

5:55

We there's certain things that as auditors we can't do, but we did uh do all the procedures.

6:02

We were able to fulfill all those, and I'll go through the the uh procedures here in a minute and go through the results.

6:08

So last week um I we we felt it was important to just show them kind of the results of what our draft report was going to look like because I didn't want I didn't want them disagreeing with with us and what we put on paper, what we've told y'all.

6:24

So we did meet with them last Friday.

6:27

Um Amanda has been on every call that we have had with ARM going back.

6:34

So we went over a few of these, and you're gonna see in here there's a few variances in here, and I think Amanda thought it would be wise, and I thought it would be wise to add a few procedures to our initial procedures to kind of add some commentary uh from ARM on that.

6:51

So an MDA, if you will, on some of the variances that we're gonna talk about because we didn't want the or they didn't want the report being out there and let's just show it a variance and then not having the opportunity to explain that.

7:04

So when we say we're pending things, that's what we're pending right now.

7:09

So we we in all fairness, we did show them this last Friday.

7:13

I think one of the main uh employees or one of the ladies responsible uh for the financials is on vacation this week.

7:21

So they they have promised me that I'm gonna get explanations next week.

7:27

Okay, so hopefully we can put together a better draft.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Fiscal Sustainability█████████████████████████████████████████████60%
Procedural██████████████████24%
Parks and Recreation████████████16%
Summary of Proceedings

Audit Advisory Committee Regular Meeting - May 29, 2026

The Audit Advisory Committee (AAC) met on May 29, 2026 (per instruction; agenda and minutes list May 28, 2026) from 6:00 p.m. to 8:04 p.m. in Blue Lion Room 2, Fort Smith, AR. The primary agenda item was the review of the draft Agreed-Upon Procedures (AUP) report for Parrot Island (water park) conducted by Forvis Mazars. Committee members discussed findings, requested additional explanations, and outlined next steps for finalizing the report and making recommendations to the Board of Directors.

Discussion Items

  • External Audit – Parrot Island AUP Results (Draft): David Coleman of Forvis Mazars presented the draft report covering procedures on cash receipts, cash disbursements, accounts payable, bank transfers, reporting compliance, and financial analytics. Key findings included:
    • Missing supporting details for two accounts receivable sub-ledgers (credit card and guest ledger).
    • Variances greater than $500 between daily revenue listings and financial statements; ARM attributed some to third-party ticket sales (e.g., Groupon) and timing differences.
    • Two cash receipts in the general ledger not traceable to bank statements (pending ARM explanation).
    • Three disbursements lacked supporting invoices; explanations still needed.
    • Multiple invoices paid 45+ days past due, with several improperly excluded from year-end accounts payable.
    • Bank transfers balanced but some amounts did not match supporting documentation (attributed to estimating payroll cash needs).
    • Reporting compliance: most reports met contractual deadlines, but the 2025 annual financial report (due 60 days after year-end) had not been provided; committee requested its inclusion.
    • Revenue per attendee showed monthly fluctuations (e.g., May: $52 vs. annual average $45); explanations pending.
    • Year-over-year expense comparison was skewed by a $246,000 river leak repair in 2024 that was later reclassified; committee requested clearer presentation.
    • Concession profitability could not be calculated because ARM does not track per-item food costs; committee expressed concern and recommended future tracking.
  • Round Table / Questions: Committee members raised specific concerns and recommendations:
    • $8,000 uncashed check from a school: discussed as a control issue; committee requested a formal explanation.
    • Need for monthly reconciliation of daily revenue to deposits.
    • Desired inclusion of season pass revenue separately in the report.
    • Request for accounts payable aging reports in future monthly packets.
    • Want detailed information on private event rentals, sponsor revenue, insurance coverage, and allocation of expenses between Fort Smith and home office.
    • Timely reporting of large unbudgeted items to the Board.

Key Outcomes

  • New/Modified Procedures: Amanda Strange (Internal Audit Director) will draft revised procedures for Forvis Mazars to obtain:
    • ARM’s reconciliation of revenue variances.
    • Explanation of the $8,000 check incident.
    • Accounts payable processing policies.
    • Extended testing of timely reporting (including 2025 annual report).
    • Separate table for season pass revenue.
    • Clarification on insurance and large repairs (e.g., river leak, power surges).
  • Pending Information: Forvis Mazars will follow up with ARM to resolve all yellow- and purple-highlighted pending items (explanations and documents).
  • Final Report: Once procedures are completed and explanations received, the report will be finalized and presented to the AAC. The AAC will then recommend the report to the Board of Directors.
  • Next Meeting: The committee will decide whether to hold a separate AAC meeting or combine with the upcoming ACFR (Annual Comprehensive Financial Report) meeting in June 2026.
  • Recommendations to Board: The AAC plans to compile recommendations for future monthly reporting (e.g., AP aging, daily attendance with year-over-year comparison, itemized food/beverage costs, private event details, sponsor revenue, insurance details, and expense breakdown between local and home office). These recommendations may be advanced without waiting for the final audit report.

Note: The agenda and minutes indicate the meeting took place on May 28, 2026. The user instruction specifies May 29, 2026; both dates are included for accuracy.

Meeting Transcript

For purposes of the recording and introductions, we'll go around the room and around the school and introduce ourselves, and that also helps identify everybody's voice for purposes of the reporting. So I'm Dina Enfield. I am a citizen member and chair of the committee. Amanda Strange, Director of Internal Audit. Chris Belvinot. For us Mazars. Katie Flores for Miss Mazars. I'm David Coleman with Forbes Mazars. Neil Martin Audit Committee Audit Committee member of the Fortune Board of Directors. Christina gets out as board of directors. Thanks everybody for being here. We have gone through and as a committee have talked through the procedures. So that we specified the procedures to be performed. Those were performed by Fortis Mazars. They're still working on the draft of the report. I believe there's a few pending items, and David will be talking about those. And so as part of this process, we wanted to make sure that we as a committee had input into whether we felt like the procedures hit the items we were wanting it to. If we need to come back and revise anything. But the intent is that David and his team are here and they can go through the items and basically talk through each and every one so that it's very clear and we have specific input into those items. So you have a draft of the report, you have the agenda, and the other thing I ask Amanda to get, she provided is a is the packet that for April, April correct, the April packet that Arm provides as part of the water park. So as part of the discussions, I wanted to be sure if there are any things we want to recommend or that recommendations come and things we might want added to that for discussion purposes and tracking purposes going forward that we knew what was in that report now and what's being provided. So Amanda, anything else you want to add? Not right now, I think that was a good summation. Okay. So happy if anybody else has anything right now, and if not, I'll turn it over to David Coleman with Forbes Mazars to get going on the draft. Alright, well, thank you. Thank you very much for that introduction. So uh I think you asked me, asked me to tell you a little bit about our firm. So we are Formus Mazars, we used to be BKD. Some of you might know BKD, but we we we merged with another firm a couple years ago with Nixon News Goodman, so now we're forwards Mazars. Um we are one of the top 10 uh firms in the world. Uh used to say country, but the the addition of Mazars made us uh a worldwide firm. So um we do we do focus on industries, so uh myself, Katie and Katie and Fritz most of the time. We focus on public sector and all things related to public sector, which includes franchise fees, audits like this. So we've had a lot of experience working with entities like you all, um, and so that uh that that's a little bit about our firm. So I had a few few remarks. I was gonna just kind of tell you all, not meaning to repeat what you just said, but um we have been, you know. If you all remember, I don't remember the exact date that we we talked with you all and determined that you all determined that this would be the best course of action uh for getting accomplished what you all wanted to accomplish as an agreed upon procedure rather than an audit. Um we are this is not an audit. We are doing an agreed-upon procedure. We are auditors, um, but it isn't is a is a basically what we have done is Amanda worked um to come up with procedures with with your all with your input and then sent them to us, and we said we can and cannot do that under the attestation under the standards of agreed upon procedures. So we didn't modify them materially, we added words here and there to make sure that we could accomplish what you all wanted us to accomplish. So we are not rendering an opinion on the financial statements of this entity. So we are essentially we were told to do these procedures, we're doing it and we're reporting the results. So we have been working with ARM since we were engaged to do this work. We started uh two or three months ago working with them, um, they have been cooperative with providing this information. Um the procedures that we did perform were pretty thorough. Um, when I say thorough, they were thorough in relation to the financial statements and the financial activities of the entity. We there's certain things that as auditors we can't do, but we did uh do all the procedures. We were able to fulfill all those, and I'll go through the the uh procedures here in a minute and go through the results.

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