City Refreshes Contract with Auditor

The city of Oak Forest will continue to open its books to Sikich LLP for at least the next three years of auditing services, after aldermen Tuesday agreed to a new three-year contract.

Sikich, which audited the city's books for the past five years, was lauded by Oak Forest Finance Director Colleen Julian for their work during the previous contract.

“We have been with Sikich for the last five years and I think they have a large presence in the municipal audit field,” Julian said. “They've done a great job.”

The contract with the city did not go out to open bid, Julian said, because of the relationship Sikich and the city have developed.

“If I thought it would add a lot of benefit to the city, I would recommend going out and looking at other services,” Julian said. “What I'm concerned with is somebody low-balling just to get their foot in the door and not having the organizational knowledge that Sikich has developed over the last few years, so I just don't see it having a benefit to the city.”

The new three-year deal calls for a zero percent increase on the cost of the auditing services this year, at a cost of $29,150. There will be a 1-percent and 2-percent raise in the cost in the second and third year of the contract, respectively.

The new contract also calls for a new team to take over Oak Forest's auditing process at Sikich, something Julian said was a positive.

“They're going to switch partners, just to have fresh eyes,” she said. “Just to make sure we're looking at things from a different perspective.”

The new contract was approved in a unanimous 7-0 vote.