City auditor seeks council endorsement of risk‑based 2026 audit plan

City Auditor Natalie Lehi presented the Office of the City Auditor’s 2026 audit plan and requested council acknowledgement and endorsement of priorities, staffing and budget assumptions.

Lehi said the office used a risk‑based model that scores candidate audits on attributes such as liquidity, system change, and program scale; the plan assumes roughly 34,000 available hours with an expected 17,300 hours for audit execution, and a proposed staffing level of 16.5 FTE (17 positions) with a budget request of approximately $2.08 million for salaries and benefits. She said audit overhead assumptions were reduced to 17% and noted a decision to expand audit coverage at the Colorado Springs Airport and the adjacent business park based on a changing risk profile.

Audit committee endorsement: Citizen audit committee members Barry Baum and Jim Godfrey said they reviewed the plan in detail at a November workshop and recommended it to council, citing a data‑driven scoring process and strong staff buy‑in. Lehi said the office engaged executive leadership at audited entities to validate risk assessments and will report quarterly on audit plan status.

Why it matters: The audit plan shapes independent financial and operational oversight of city funds, airport activities and utilities. Lehi framed the plan as flexible, reserving 1,500 hours for emergent priorities such as fraud hotline follow‑ups or unplanned investigations.

Next steps: Council acknowledged the briefing; Lehi will post the plan, begin engagements and provide quarterly status updates. The audit committee and auditor will continue to refine priorities during the year.