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Audit Objective

Determine whether goods and services were procured in accordance with the Town’s procurement policy and applicable statutes.

Key Findings

Town officials:

• Complied with competitive bidding requirements for 15 of 18 tested purchase and public works contracts totaling $10.6 million. However, they did not competitively bid contracts for paving services and brush collection totaling $471,700.
• Did not seek competition for 10 professional services totaling $1.1 million.
• Did not obtain quotes as required by the procurement policy for eight purchases totaling about $115,000.

Key Recommendations

• Establish procedures to ensure that officials and employees follow competitive bidding statutes and procurement policy requirements.
• Review and update the purchasing policy and procedures to ensure they include detailed guidance for procuring professional services at reasonable intervals.

Town officials agreed with our findings and recommendations and indicated that they plan to take corrective action.