Loading...
HomeMy Public PortalAbout07 29 2020 Auditor Selection Committee Meeting MINUTES OF THE AUDITOR SELECTION COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE TOWN OF GULF WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2020 AT 2:00 P.M. STREAM ON IN THE WILLIAM F. KOCH, JR. COMMISSION CHAMBERS OF THE TOWN HALL, l00 SEA ROAD, GULF STREAM, FLORIDA. THIS MEETING OF THE AUDITOR SELECTION COMMITTEE WAS CONDUCTED USING COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA TECHNOLOGY. I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Lyons called the meeting to order at 2:00 P.M. II. ROLL CALL Present and Participating: Paul A. Lyons Chairman & Town Commissioner Tracey Stevens Ocean Ridge Town Manager Linda Stumpf Manalapan Town Manager Edward Nazzaro Asst. Town Attorney Also Present & Observing: Gregory Dunham Town Manager Rita Taylor Town Clerk III.EVALUATE, RANK AND RECOMMEND PROPOSALS Chairman Lyons thanked everyone for attending and expressed his appreciation to everyone for being able to move the meeting from the originally scheduled date of July 23, 2020 due to an emergency he had to tend to. He stated the purpose of the meeting was to evaluate and rank the two firms that sent in proposals and to make a recommendation to the Commission. Chairman Lyons stated the town staff, as part of the due diligence process, called references and did some independent research and those findings were shared with each committee member. Committee Member Stumpf stated she used the evaluation form and ranked the two proposals very similar but had two areas of concern regarding Grau & Associates. She ranked Grau lower than Nowlen, Holt and Miner on the availability of key personnel stating that her concern was the hours proposed to perform the audit were much lower than Nowlen, Holt and Miner. Ms. Stumpf added she knew Nowlen, Holt and Miner had been doing the Town’s audits so they had a general idea of how long it takes to do the audit and felt that Grau & Associates had underestimated the amount of time it would take, especially as a new auditor for the Town. Ms. Stumpf ranked them lower on office location and the number of CPA’s available to the Town with Nowlen, Holt and Miner having much more experience. She added that Grau’s hourly rates were much higher than Nowlen, Holt and Miner and the number of hours to perform the audit was significantly different. Ms. Stumpf asked CFO Tew if the digital was included in the bid because she didn’t see it in the price structure to which CFO Tew answered that it was optional, so it wasn’t included in the bid. Ms. Stumpf stated she ranked Grau & Associates with a score of 90 out of 100 and Nowlen, Holt and Miner with a score of 96. Committee Member Stevens stated that her comments were going to be almost a carbon copy of Ms. Stumpf. The first thing that stood out Minutes of the Audit Selection Committee Meeting Held July 29, 2020 @ 2:00 P.M. to her under qualifications/experience on the evaluation form was that Nowlen, Holt and Miner was going to assign a partner full-time and Grau & Associates was going to have a partner available for technical assistance. She agreed with Ms. Stumpf’s findings that Nowlen, Holt and Miner had more CPA’s on staff. Ms. Stevens stated that even though the overall bid came in lower with Grau, she was looking at the hourly rates, and those were lower at Nowlen, Holt and Miner. She added that Grau had a big client list and was concerned they may not be able to provide the adequate personnel and believed the hours were underestimated from Grau & Associates. Ms. Stevens stated it wasn’t clear in Grau’s proposal whether they had ever had any litigation but showed no litigation for the past three years whereas Nowlen, Holt and Miner had never had any litigation. She added that it looked like Grau’s proposal was only a 90-day proposal, which meant it would be expired. Ms. Stumpf interjected that she thought the same thing and wondered if the numbers were still accurate. Ms. Stevens stated her ranking for Grau & Associates was 94 out of 100 and Nowlen, Holt and Miner was a 99. Chairman Lyons stated he didn’t have any more insight to the comments Ms. Stump and Ms. Stevens had made but added that he believed the overall depth of experience of Nowlen, Holt and Miner was stronger than Grau. Mr. Lyons stated the allocation of key personnel was better at Nowlen, Holt and Miner and agreed with the ladies on the hourly rates being drastically different. Mr. Lyons ranked Grau and Associates at 88 out of 100 and Nowlen, Holt and Miner a 94. He added that with the consensus of the committee and the evaluation rankings, Nowlen, Holt and Miner was who the Auditor Selection Committee would recommend to the Commission. IV. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Lyons adjourned the meeting at 2:12 P.M. Reneé Basel Assistant Town Clerk 2