Audit Committee Meeting - December 3, 2025

The Audit Committee convened on December 3, 2025, at 10:00 AM to review routine consents, approve a new contract for a veterinary hospital, and discuss the results of a performance audit regarding the Visit San Antonio contract. The committee unanimously approved the approval of minutes and the consent calendar. Significant discussion focused on a $15 million capital delivery contract for a new animal services hospital and the implementation of an audit response plan to improve data validation processes for economic impact reporting.

Consent Calendar

• unanimously approved the minutes from the previous meeting.
• unanimously approved the consent calendar (Agenda Items 1 through 5) without removal or discussion.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No public comments were received.

Discussion Items

Article 6: New Veterinary Hospital Capital Delivery Contract

• Mike Shannon (Director of Capital Delivery) presented the proposal for a $15 million contract to build a new veterinary hospital on the existing ACS campus, with completion targeted for late 2027.
• Shannon reported that 346 vendors were contacted, 13 attended an pre-study conference, and 7 responded. Vendor A was selected with the highest score (31.46), although Vendor A is not a small business but meets subcontracting requirements; Vendor B was a small business but scored lower.
• Committee Response: Council members expressed satisfaction with the vendor selection but noted disappointment that small business participation did not meet the 20% target. A Council member stated, "I am a little disappointed we did not receive 20%, maybe we can discuss how we can help groups make that transition," but acknowledged the difficulty small businesses face with new ordinance requirements. The committee agreed that Vendor A's experience and pricing justified the selection.

Article 7: Visit San Antonio Audit Report (Report 24007)

• Gutiérrez (Audit Manager) presented the audit report, confirming that Visit San Antonio generally complied with contract terms regarding hotel occupancy taxes and expenses. However, the audit identified two key areas for improvement: (1) timely monitoring of accounts receivable, and (2) obtaining source documentation to validate metrics and KPIs, which were currently being reported without supporting documents.
• Patricia (Management/Government Liaison) explained that delays in receiving data were due to the natural timing of hotel occupancy data collection and the reliance on event planners who often leave the city before submitting full documentation. She affirmed that the city now receives source data sheets and is validating the information, noting that no errors have been found during validation.
• Council Member Spears expressed concern regarding the accountability of tax dollars and the transparency of the process. Spears stated, "I am responsible to the citizens... there is a lot of tax money going to this place," and emphasized the need for a direct line of sight between spending and economic gain.
• Discussion on Simple View Software: The committee discussed the limitations of the "Simple View" CRM software used by planners, noting that leadership-stage data is often incomplete because planners prioritize initial availability data over full event metrics at the time of booking. Council members agreed that while the current process has delays, a plan is in place to improve the flow of documentation to ensure accurate economic impact reporting.
• Audit Team Clarification: The audit team confirmed this was the first instance of these specific deficiencies being identified and that the report would be updated to reflect the ongoing improvement in processes.

Key Outcomes

• Approval: The committee voted unanimously to accept the audit findings (Article 7) and initiate the management response plan.
• Action: The committee authorized the move forward with the $15 million capital delivery contract for the new veterinary hospital (Article 6).
• Next Steps: The committee agreed to push the next scheduled meeting from early January to the second or third week of January to allow more time for information gathering.
• Meeting Adjourned: The session concluded at 3:13 PM.