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Report regarding a resolution to amend the Professional Services Agreement with Maze and Associates Authorizing a Two-Year Contract Extension for Professional Audit Services for Fiscal Years 2020-21 and 2021-22 (Paul Harris, Financial Services Manager)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a Resolution approving a second amendment to the Consulting Services Agreement with Maze & Associates ("Maze") authorizing a two-year contract extension for professional audit services for Fiscal Year ("FY") 2020-21 and FY 2021-22.
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BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
In February of 2016, the City Council approved Resolution 31-2016 for a three-year Consulting Services Agreement (plus an option to renew for two additional fiscal years) with Maze for independent auditing services for FYs 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 in the amount of $79,285 per year. The original agreement expired upon the completion of the FY 2017-18 financial audits. In June 2018, an amendment exercising the option to renew for two years through the financial audit of FY 2019-20 was signed. This amendment expires with the FY 2019-20 financial audit and related services.
The Government Finance Officers Association ("GFOA") recommends that all governmental agencies enter into multi-year audit services agreements of at least five years in duration. Multi-year agreements allow for greater continuity and helps minimize the potential for disruption in connection with the independent audit. In addition, multi-year agreements can also help to reduce audit costs by allowing auditors to recover certain "start-up" costs over several years, rather than over a single year.
Under normal circumstances, staff would have sought new bids from audit firms in the first quarter of this year as the original contract (three years plus two-year exercised option) approached expiration. However, due to the COVID-19 emergency and several vacancies within the Finance department, the proce...
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