§6-404. Duty to Submit to Audits by Certified Public Accountants Appointed by the Council; Audit Reports.

The Auditing Department shall submit to any accountants appointed by the Council for the purpose of making an audit of its affairs or of the methods used by it in auditing the affairs of other departments and of officers, boards and commissions of the City and of other agencies receiving moneys out of the City Treasury, all records in its possession, shall cooperate fully with such accountants in making such an audit and, to the extent authorized by the Council, shall exercise all its powers to make available for such an audit the records of any officer, department, board or commission. Reports of all such audits shall be submitted to the Mayor and to the Council.

Purposes: 1. The Charter requires Council to make provision for at least a triennial examination by an independent firm of certified public accountants of the manner in which the Auditing Department is performing its duties. See Section 2-300(5). The Auditing Department is required to furnish to any accountants appointed by Council for this purpose all of its records and to cooperate with such accountants.

2. Whenever the examination of the records of the Auditing Department indicates that the independent accountants ought to inspect the records of other departments or agencies, the Auditing Department is required to exercise all of its powers to aid such inspection to the extent that the Council authorizes the Auditing Department to do so.

3. An independent triennial audit of every officer and agency of the City was not required by the Charter for two reasons. It would involve great expense to the City and it would duplicate the work of the Auditing Department if that Department were properly performing its auditing functions. Independent accountants, when they examine the manner in which the Auditing Department is performing its duties, should be able to tell whether particular officers and agencies have been properly audited. If they have been so audited by the Auditing Department, the purpose of the independent examination has been met. If they have not been audited properly, the independent auditors will report that fact to the Mayor and the Council.