AUDIT COMMITTEE

Per Res 20-1110, the City Council voted at its August 12, 2020 meeting to establish the creation of a Saint Paul City Council Audit Committee.

SAINT PAUL CITY COUNCIL AUDIT COMMITTEE CHARTER

Mission: The Saint Paul City Council Audit Committee’s mission is to evaluate the financial and program performance of City departments to build public trust and ensure outstanding service delivery, transparency and accountability.

Authority under City Charter and Code of Ordinances: Pursuant to Section 4.07 of the City Charter, “the Council to make investigations into the affairs of the city and the conduct of any department, office or agency and for this purpose shall have the power to administer oaths and require the presence of witnesses and the production of evidence by subpoenas obtained by order from the district court on application from the council.”

Pursuant to Section 4.08 of the Saint Paul Charter, “the council shall provide for an annual independent audit of all city accounts and may provide for such additional audits as it deems necessary.”

Appendix A-2 of the Administration Code was amended to establish the creation of a Saint Paul City Council Audit Committee.

With input from the community and city staff, the committee will select a topic based on the potential impact an audit could have on improving the City’s efficiency and effectiveness, interview and select consultants to perform the audit, and monitor the work of the consultants throughout the process. The Audit Committee will present a final report to the City Council and Administration on its findings. The Committee may, from time to time, request an update from the Administration on its progress toward recommendations from previous audits and update the Council accordingly.
The Council President will appoint up to four (4) Councilmembers who will be guided by an Advisory Group made up of the City's Finance Director and Innovation Director, and up to four (4) members* of the public who are Saint Paul residents. These Advisors will serve a three-year term.
* Per Resolution RES 22-523, the membership of the Audit Committee’s Advisory Group expanded to include a fourth community advisor as non-voting members for a term of three years
- Committee Membership
  Council President Mitra Jalali, Ward 4 (ex-officio)
  Councilmember Rebecca Noecker, Ward 2 (chair)
  Councilmember Saura Jost, Ward 3
  Councilmember Hwa Jeong Kim, Ward 5
- Advisory Group (Community Advisors (See below for more information about the Community Member Role Description & Application.))
  Dana M. DeMaster (Term: April 6, 2022 to April 6, 2025)
  Stephanie D. Dilworth (Term: April 6, 2022 to April 6, 2025)
  James T. Farnsworth (Term: April 6, 2022 to April 6, 2025)
  Jeremy Lostetter (Term: December 6, 2023 to December 6, 2026)
The Audit Committee will work with the Mayor’s Cabinet, City Departments, District Councils, Community Partners, and a broad group of stakeholders to identify topics for the Committee’s consideration. The Committee will annually review topic submissions and use a common criterion to rank and select the audit topics. A preliminary project scope will be developed along with the budget and a request for proposals/quotes will be released to enlist a consultant to complete the work. This Committee will ensure a cooperative and respectful process to:
- Enhance accountability of City operations to performance expectations outlined in adopted codes, policies and budgets;
- Improve efficiency and effectiveness of City operations; and
- Demonstrate to the public of the City Council’s commitment to efficiency and positive outcomes, especially as it contemplates tax increases.
The Committee will report and share the findings with the public and Administration and will also work with the Administration to implement recommendations based on audit findings.
In the interest of achieving a productive working relationship, the Audit Committee will meet at least once annually with each Department Head to understand the opportunities, challenges and needs facing each City Department.
- Cooperation and Respect: The Audit committee will partner with the administration, staff, and stakeholders with cooperation and respect to build public and internal trust through outstanding service delivery.
- Transparency and Integrity: The Audit committee will engender trust by operating with transparency and integrity, using sound methodologies and thoughtful systems analysis.
- Co-learning and Co-development: The Audit Committee will operate with a spirit of evaluating “with” and not evaluating “on” that results in co-learning and co-development with the administration, staff, and stakeholders.
- Race Equity: The Audit committee will use a race equity lens in choosing what will be evaluated, consultant selection, and how services will be evaluated.

Meeting Calendar: The Audit Committee meets from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM once monthly on the third Tuesday. (NOTE: Dates and times are subjected to change so please check here for specific meetings that are of interest).

Meeting Location(s): All meetings are held in Council Chambers, Hearing Room 330 or City Hall Basement 41 of the Saint Paul City Hall and Ramsey County Courthouse, 300 City Hall, 15 Kellogg Boulevard, West. Please check the agenda for the interested meeting at Council's Meeting Calendar page for the correct meeting room. The public is welcome to attend meetings in-person and can access meeting information on the Council's Meeting Calendar such as looking at meeting videos or looking up agendas, minutes, and related documents.

Audit Committee Meetings

If a video or audio recording is missing, please check our full meeting archive.

How can residents help the Saint Paul City Council Audit Committee? Take the Topic Suggestion Survey for Residents.

Topic Suggestions from Residents

Resident Survey Responses

May 1st Audit Committee Meeting - Resident Responses (as of 05-01-2023)
June 5th Audit Committee Meeting - Resident Responses (as of 06-02-2023)
September 11th Audit Committee Meeting - Resident Responses (as of 09-06-2023)
October 9th Audit Committee Meeting - Resident Responses (as of 09-06-2023) (NOTE: No new responses were received since the last reported date.)

How can city staff help the Saint Paul City Council Audit Committee? Take the Topic Suggestion Survey for City of Saint Paul Employees.

Topic Suggestions from City Staff

Staff Survey Responses

June 5th Audit Committee Meeting - Staff Responses (as of 06-02-2023)
September 11th Audit Committee Meeting - Staff Responses (as of 09-06-2023)
October 9th Audit Committee Meeting - Staff Responses (as of 09-06-2023) (NOTE: No new responses were received since the last reported date.)

Other

Link to Current and Past Audit Committee Meetings

Thank you for your interest in serving on the Audit Committee; The application period to fill the vacancy has ended. Please consider applying when we next have an opening.
Membership: Citizen involvement is critical and integral to how the Audit Committee plan, review and select audit projects. The ideal community member should
- be able to attend the majority of the meetings,
- have a strong interest and desire in improving St. Paul, and
- have experience providing organizational oversight and/or conducting audits (helpful).
Stipends: $30.00/meeting
- Resolution RES 24-140 (Approving the appointments of Councilmembers Saura Jost and HwaJeong Kim as members of the Audit Committee and Council President Mitra Jalali as an ex officio member.)
- Resolution RES 24-1202 (Approving a nominal stipend increase in payment for community advisors who serve on the Audit Committee.)
- Resolution RES 24-1420 (Accepting the Department Efficiency and Collaboration Study between Parks and Recreation and the Public Library Report conducted by Wilder Research.)
- Resolution RES 24-1495 (Honoring Jenna McCullough for her contribution and her commitment to the professional development of Saint Paul’s front-line staff and customer service managers across many City departments through a customer service lens.) Link to view the recognition event.
- Resolution RES 23-1788 (Approving the appointment of Jeremy Lostetter as community advisor to the Audit Committee and as a non-voting member for a term of three years.)
- Resolution RES 23-1905 (Approving the Audit Committee’s recommendation to support opportunities for collaboration, cost-sharing, and process improvement between the Saint Paul Public Library and the Saint Paul Parks and Recreation Department in engaging a consultant to assess current operations and make recommendations aimed at improving service delivery and ensuring efficient use of City resources.)
- Resolution RES 22-132 (Accepting the Customer and Constituent Services Study Report conducted by Cultivate Strategy to study and make recommendations regarding the city’s process to receive and respond to non-emergency resident complaints and feedback.)
- Resolution RES 22-523 (Expanding the membership of the Audit Committee’s Advisory Group to include a fourth community advisor and approving the appointments of Dana M. DeMaster, Stephanie D. Dilworth and James Farnsworth as community advisors to the Audit Committee and as non-voting members for a term of three years.)
- Resolution RES 22-1080 (Authorizing the award of a professional services agreement to Baker Tilly LLP (Baker Tilly) to conduct a comprehensive review and process mapping of residential housing development services across City departments and to provide a report with recommendations to the city for improvements to the process.)
- Resolution RES 21-879 (Authorizing the award of a professional services agreement to Cultivate Strategy to perform a study of and make recommendations regarding the city’s process to receive and respond to non-emergency resident complaints and feedback)
- Resolution RES 21-1532 (Approving the Audit Committee's recommendation to examine how businesses interested in developing residential housing projects navigate the various City departments' processes and requirements)
- Resolution RES 20-1110 (Establishing the creation of a Saint Paul City Council Audit Committee)
- Resolution RES 20-1272 (Appointing the acting members to the Audit Committee)
- Resolution RES 20-1380 (Appointing the advisory members to the Audit Committee)
- Resolution RES 20-1382 (Approving a stipend for community advisors to the Audit Committee)
- Resolution RES 20-1478 (Approving the Audit Committee’s recommendation to audit the customer and constituent services the City provides to the residents and businesses of Saint Paul)
Committee Membership
- Councilmember Nelsie Yang (Term: September 23, 2020 to January 24, 2022)
- Former Councilmember Dai Thao (Term: September 23, 2020 to August 1, 2022)
- Former Councilmember Amy Brendmoen (ex-officio, President) (Term: September 23, 2020 to December 31, 2023)
- Former Councilmember Jane Prince (co-chair) (Term: September 23, 2020 to December 31, 2023)
Staff Advisors
- Matt Larson, Chief Innovation Officer (Term: October 13, 2020 to April 4, 2022)
- John McCarthy, Office of Financial Services Director (Term: October 13, 2020 to April 4, 2022)
Community Advisors
- Ellen T. Brown (Term: October 13, 2020 to October 13, 2023)
- Nou Fang (Term: October 13, 2020 to February 8, 2022)
- Eric P. Zidlicky (Term: October 13, 2020 to January 24, 2022)
Below is the list of sample historical performance audit study reports directed by the City Council:

Performance Audit of the City of Saint Paul’s Recreation Centers (January 1999).pdf (17.49 MB)

Performance Audit of the City of Saint Paul’s Labor Relations Activities (August 1999).pdf (4.95 MB)

Performance Audit of the City of Saint Paul’s Citizen Service Office (January 2001).pdf (4.54 MB)

Performance Audit of the City of Saint Paul’s Building Permit, Plan Review and Inspections Functions (May 2000).pdf (12.62 MB)

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AUDIT COMMITTEE

In This Section

SAINT PAUL CITY COUNCIL AUDIT COMMITTEE CHARTER

Charge of the Audit Committee

Makeup of the Audit Committee

Audit Committee Practice and Process

Audit Committee Values Statement

Audit Committee Meetings

How can residents help the Saint Paul City Council Audit Committee? Take the Topic Suggestion Survey for Residents.

Resident Survey Responses

How can city staff help the Saint Paul City Council Audit Committee? Take the Topic Suggestion Survey for City of Saint Paul Employees.

Staff Survey Responses

Other

Audit Committee Community Member Role Description & Application

2024 Related File(s)

2023 Related File(s)

2022 Related File(s)

2021 Related File(s)

2020 Related File(s)

Past Memberships

Past Study

2023-24

2021-22

Historical Performance Audit Studies directed by the City Council

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