San Antonio Audit Committee Meeting - September 2, 2025

The Audit Committee of the City of San Antonio met on September 2, 2025, at 1:01 PM. The meeting was called to order with a quorum present. The committee approved the minutes from the previous meeting, addressed the consent agenda, and discussed two major audit items: the Greater SATX audit and the Finance P Card program audit. The committee also received a briefing on the proposed 2026 annual audit plan.

Consent Calendar

• The minutes of the previous meeting were approved unanimously.
• Four final internal audit reports were on the consent agenda. Item 3 (Greater SATX audit) was pulled for discussion by a committee member. The remaining items were approved by voice vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No members of the public signed up to speak.

Discussion Items

Greater SATX Audit (Item 3)

• A committee member expressed significant concerns about the audit's conclusion that the Economic Development Department's service agreement with Greater SATX is appropriately monitored. The audit noted that the department cannot sufficiently validate Greater SATX performance metrics because Greater SATX does not provide sufficient supporting documentation for validation. The committee member noted that many of the businesses counted as "wins" are non-incentive businesses with no documentation requirements, making it difficult to determine if the city is getting value for its funding.
• The committee decided to move this item to the next audit committee meeting to allow Greater SATX to present, given their recent leadership change and to allow new committee members to be briefed. A motion to move the item to the next meeting passed by voice vote.

Finance P Card Program Audit (Item 6)

• Abigail Esteves, audit manager, presented the results. The objective was to determine if the P Card program was managed in accordance with policies and procedures. The audit found that finance had adequate controls for provisioning participants and ensuring accurate payments, but identified opportunities for improvement in policies, transaction monitoring, and card controls.
• Key findings included: an outdated user guide; 45% of sampled transactions lacked required supporting documentation; 44% of transactions in unapproved transaction reports remained unapproved for three or more months; 1,644 potentially questionable transactions; hundreds of purchases exceeding $3,000 that should have been under contract; 123 cardholders with limits significantly above actual spending; and employees who had separated from the city still had active cards for an average of 99 days (seven cards still active, though no purchases were made on them).
• Finance agreed with the recommendations and developed corrective action plans with a tentative completion date of June 2025. Finance Director Troy and Deputy Finance Director Ben addressed the committee, explaining that many issues were transitional due to a system conversion from Wells Fargo to Chase. They stated that all 1,644 potentially unallowed transactions were reviewed and no disallowed costs were found, but acknowledged the need for better documentation and controls. A new program guide is being issued, and a strengthened process for terminating card access upon employee separation has been implemented.
• Committee members, particularly Councilmember White, raised concerns about the adequacy of monitoring given the volume of issues. The committee discussed the need for more frequent audits of this high-risk program.

Proposed 2026 Annual Audit Plan (Item 7, Briefing)

• Buddy Vargas, City Auditor, presented the proposed plan for the 2026 fiscal year. The plan is developed through input from management and council, a high-level risk assessment, and prioritization of audits that add value and address revenue and expenditure challenges due to the city's budget shortfall.
• The plan includes 32 performance audits, 3 consulting projects, special project requests, follow-up work, and data analysis. Approximately 10 audits have a significant revenue component. New areas include audits related to flooding safety and the new Homeless Services Department. The plan also includes a workforce development audit (Project Quest) and a homeless services and strategies audit.
• Two audits from the 2025 plan were postponed and rolled over: aviation parking operations and SAP upgrade. Two audits were removed: CCDO parking operations (due to pending RFP) and LGC audit (low risk).
• The committee discussed the plan, with Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez requesting a column showing the last audit date for each department. Councilmember White thanked the team for the work, emphasizing the importance of oversight during budget deficits.

Key Outcomes

• Greater SATX Audit (Item 3): Moved to the next audit committee meeting (date not specified) for further discussion with Greater SATX representatives. The city auditor was directed to brief the new committee members on the issue.
• Finance P Card Program Audit (Item 6): Approved by voice vote. The committee noted the corrective actions and expressed expectation for more frequent follow-up audits.
• Proposed 2026 Annual Audit Plan (Item 7): The committee voted to send the plan to the October 9, 2025 A Session of City Council for approval. The motion passed by voice vote. The plan will be updated with a matrix showing the last audit date for each department.
• The meeting adjourned at 1:35 PM.