City of College Station

The Office of City Internal Auditor was established in accordance with the City Charter, Article 3, Section 30. The city internal auditor is a council appointee and reports to an audit committee composed of three council members. The Office of City Internal Auditor is organizationally independent of city administration because the reporting structure provides the office a separate organizational status from the management of programs and functions subject to audit.

FUNCTION

The city internal auditor is responsible for conducting audits of departments, offices, boards, activities, and agencies of the city to independently determine whether:

• Indications of fraud, abuse, or illegal acts are present.
• Management has established adequate internal controls to safeguard city assets.
• City resources and public funds are utilized economically, efficiently, and effectively.
• Financial and other reports are being provided that disclose fairly, accurately, and fully all information that is required by law.
• The desired result or benefits of programs, activities, functions, or policies are being achieved.

An audit plan is prepared each year to serve as a guide to allocate scarce audit resources to areas that will most benefit the City of College Station. In developing the annual audit plan, the city internal auditor identifies potential audit topics based on several factors:

• Assessing financial and performance risks.
• Reviewing the financial auditors' results.
• Considering requests and suggestions from the city council and city management.
• Determining the feasibility of audit topics and the availability of resources.

An overview of the audit process can be found here.

AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS

The City Internal Auditor’s Office is committed to promoting transparency and accountability by providing actionable recommendations through its audit reports. These recommendations are designed to reduce the risk of fraud, waste, and/or abuse in the City’s operations.

Since 2007, the Internal Auditor’s Office has made over 200 recommendations aimed at addressing identified risks or control weaknesses. These recommendations serve as a roadmap for City departments to enhance their processes, improve internal controls, and ensure adherence to best practices and/or comply with regulations.

STATUS UPDATES

To foster continuous improvement, the Internal Auditor’s Office performs annual follow-up reviews on the status of all audit recommendations. During this process, the office works closely with City departments to assess the progress made in implementing each recommendation. The results of these follow-up reviews are presented in the annual Recommendation Follow-Up: Progress Report.

This report provides an overview of the recommendations issued by the City Internal Auditor since the formation of the Internal Auditor’s Office. It outlines the status of audit recommendations and details actions taken, whether fully or partially implemented or still pending. Additionally, the report identifies whether management concurred with each recommendation.

For more information about past audit reports and recommendation updates, please access the most recent annual progress report below:

RECOMMENDATION FOLLOW-UP: PROGRESS REPORT

ACCOLADES AND AWARDS

To comply with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards, audit offices are periodically peer-reviewed. In 2022, the Office of the City Internal Auditor received the highest peer review opinion possible. Read the full peer review opinion letter. 

In addition, the Office of the City Internal Auditor periodically submits audit reports to the Association of Local Government Auditors (ALGA) for review as part of the Knighton Award program. The Knighton Award was developed in 1995 as a way to recognize exceptional performance audit reports, and to help audit shops continue to improve their performance audit programs.

The Office of the City Internal Auditor has received four Knighton Awards:

• 2021 Distinguished Winner: Payroll Audit
• 2019 Distinguished Winner: Parkland Dedication Audit
• 2017 Distinguished Winner: Performance Audit of Public Works Sanitation Division
• 2015 Exemplary Winner: Streets Maintenance Audit
  
  

BACKGROUND

The Office of City Internal Auditor is headed by Ty Elliott. He is a certified internal auditor, certified fraud examiner, and certified government audit professional. Elliott received his Bachelors of Science and Masters of Public Administration degrees from Brigham Young University.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Ty Elliott, City Internal Auditor
979.764.6269
[email protected] 
College Station City Hall
1101 Texas Ave.
College Station, TX 77840

AUDIT REPORTS