§ 2-604. Audit committee; established: powers and duties generally; compensation.

(a)

To ensure independence of the audit function, an audit committee is hereby established. The audit committee is an independent management committee and not a public board, commission, or committee as specified in article 3 herein. The audit committee shall comprise five voting members who shall include the mayor's appointee, the president of council's appointee, and three at-large members appointed by the entire city council. Members shall be residents of the city and shall possess the independence, experience and collective technical expertise necessary to carry out the duties of the Audit Committee. This expertise includes but is not limited to knowledge of financial auditing, performance auditing, financial reporting and accounting. The minimum professional standards for all members shall include at least ten years of experience as a certified public accountant or as a certified internal auditor, or ten years of professional management experience in audit, finance, or law. At all times, at least one member shall be a certified public accountant. Members shall be appointed for four year terms and until their successors have been appointed and qualified. The three at-large members of the Audit Committee arc limited to two full consecutive terms, with one term intervening before they become eligible for reappointment. Appointments shall be made so that not more than one term of office shall expire in any one year. Members of the committee shall select a chairperson from among its members yearly.

(b)

The audit committee shall consult with the city auditor regarding technical issues and work to assure maximum coordination between the work of the city auditor's office and the needs of the council, the mayor, and departments and the coordination of external audit efforts.

(c)

The audit committee shall meet as needed to perform its duties but shall not meet less than once quarterly and shall be responsible for:

(1)

Providing general direction to the audit function by reviewing the auditor's annual audit plan and any proposed amendments thereto and submitting the plan and the committee's recommendations to the council;

(2)

Reviewing and approving audit reports before the final audit report is issued:

(3)

Sending copies of final audit reports to the mayor, president of the council, and members of the council;

(4)

Performing an evaluation of the city auditor annually and reporting the results of the evaluation and effectiveness of the audit function annually to the council;

(5)

Providing oversight of the external audit efforts and coverage, pursuant to Section 2-604(d); and

(6)

Performing such other duties as provided for by an ordinance of the council.

(d)

To assist the City Council in fulfilling the requirements of Charter section 6-308(a) and to the extent that services of an external auditor are otherwise necessary, the city shall employ such outside audit services according to the procedure set forth below:

(1)

Every five years or at such regular intervals as determined by City Council, an independent public accounting and audit firm must be engaged by the City to conduct the City's annual external audit for a contractual period of up to five years.

(2)

At the beginning of each competitive selection process, the Audit Committee is authorized to oversee the establishment of a written policy detailing the selection criteria for the financial auditor.

(3)

The selection of the auditor must be through the use of a competitive process with a comprehensive request for proposals document. The audit committee shall provide guidance to the Department of Procurement in the preparation of the request for proposals, including criteria for selection.

(4)

The written request for proposals to prospective financial auditors must include the criteria and weightings for the selection.

(5)

The Audit Committee shall appoint an evaluation committee to review proposals in response to the financial auditor RFP. The evaluation committee shall be composed of at least three (3) members including the mayor's appointee, on the Audit Committee, the president of council's appointee on the audit committee, and one at-large appointee on the audit committee appointed by the City Council. At all times, at least one member shall be a certified public accountant.

(6)

Each member of the evaluation committee shall assign points to each of the proponents based on a rating scale established by the audit committee. The evaluation committee shall recommend no more than three proponents to the audit committee based on the ratings of each member.

(7)

The audit committee shall review the recommendations of the evaluation committee and make a final recommendation for selection of the City's financial auditor to the Finance/Executive Committee for consideration.

(8)

Once the final recommendation for selection has been made to the Finance Executive Committee, for consideration, the selection is to be presented to the City Council for approval.

(e)

Each member of the audit committee as established by section 2-604 of the Charter of the City of Atlanta who is not an elected official or employee of the City of Atlanta shall be paid $100.00 as compensation for each meeting of the board the member attends, but in no event shall the total amount paid to any member exceed the sum of $1000.00 in any one calendar year.

(1996 Ga. L. (Act No. 1019), p. 4469; Ord. No. 1999-40, § 1, 4-19-99; Ord. No. 2013-64(13-O-1298), § 1, 11-27-13 )