Buncombe County to onboard Cherry Becker for internal audits; commissioners press for direct oversight

The Buncombe County Audit Committee advanced onboarding of Cherry Becker to perform a county internal-audit risk assessment, execute at least one audit engagement, and operate the county’s fraud hotline intake and investigations, while repeatedly pressing staff and the firm to preserve audit independence and keep commissioners directly informed.

Tiffany McCoy, a forensic manager with Cherry Becker, told the committee the firm proposes to kick off a risk assessment in April with information gathering, analyze in May and deliver final reporting in June, then begin executing a selected audit engagement in July with completion expected around September. "Ideally we'd like to be able to kick off here in April with some information gathering in April, May and then analysis in May and reporting final reporting out in June," McCoy said.

Staff told the committee the master services agreement is agreed in principle but that redlines remain in the business associate agreement (BAA), which specifies what kinds of personally identifiable information and personal health information Cherry Becker will handle and who bears related risks. Committee members repeatedly sought assurance that final reports, findings and corrective-action plans will be visible to commissioners, not only to county management, citing the county’s prior fraud episode and the audit committee’s oversight charge.

Committee members said an external, independent firm reduces the risk that internal staff could intimidate or influence audit work. Staff and Cherry Becker representatives agreed to evaluate and, if needed, revise reporting processes so the audit committee receives timely notifications when significant findings or remediation actions arise. The committee also discussed using software to track remediation plans and noted budgetary consideration for that tool.

The committee voted to recommend appointment of Jennifer Young (Weaverville Town Council) to fill an audit-committee vacancy; staff will forward that recommendation to the full commission for formal approval. The committee confirmed its next meeting for June 16 and adjourned.