98-072 RESOLUTION NO. 98-72
A RESOLI. TION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF .aVENTURA, FLORIDA, RETAINING THE FIRM
OF RACI-LIN COHEN & HOLTZ TO PERFORM
INDEPEND-'NT AUDITING SERVICES FOR THE FISCAL
YEAR EN[~ING SEPTEMBER 30, 1998; AUTHORIZING
THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE ATTACHED
ENGAGEM =NT LETTER; AND PROVIDING AN
EFFECTIVr i DATE.
WHEREAS, in 199 the City of Aventura followed procedures contained in
state law to select a firm per-form independent auditing services, and;
WHEREAS, at the )nclusion of that process the firm of Rachlin Cohen &
Holtz was selected to ~erform independent auditing services for the City of
Aventura and entered o an agreement to perform said services for the fiscal
years ended September ;t0, 1996 and 1997, and;
WHEREAS, Rachlir Cohen & Holtz has proposed to continue to provide said
services for the fiscal yee ended September 30, 1998, and;
WHEREAS, City st ~ff has reviewed the proposed engagement letter and
associated fees and reco ~mends approval of same.
NOW, THEREFORI BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF
THE CITY OF AVENTUF ~,, FLORIDA, THAT:
Section 1: The firrr of Rachlin Cohen & Holtz be and the same is hereby
retained to perform indepE,ndent auditing services for the City of Aventura for the
fiscal year ending Septem~ er 30, 1998.
Section 2: The Cil y Manager of the City of Aventura, Florida, is hereby
authorized to execute the Engagement Letter, attached hereto as Exhibit "A" for
auditing services by and bt ~tween the City and Rachlin Cohen & Holtz.
Resolution No. 98-72
Page 2
Section 3: This resolution shall become effective immediately upon its
adoption.
The foregoing Resol Jtion was offered by Commissioner vice t. tayor Cohen
who ~ moved its' adoption. The motion was seconded by
Commissioner ]~ibert and upon being put to a vote, the vote was as follows:
Comm ssioner Arthur Berger absent
Comm ssioner Jay R. Beskin yes
Comm ssioner Harry Holzberg yes
Comm ssioner Jeffrey M. Perlow yes
Comm ssioner Patricia Rogers-Libert xes
Vice Mayor Ken Cohen yes
Mayor ~,rthur I. Snyder yes
PASSED AN[ ADOPTED this 4t" day of August, 1998.
ATTEST: L,,
TERESA M. SMITH, CM(
CiTY CLERK
APPROVED AS TO LEG iL SUFFICIENCY:
CITY/ATTORNEY
G. Jerry Chiocca, CPA
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCO1 ~NTANTS & CONSULTANTS Director- Miami
A Partnership Including Professional Assodations chiocca@rchcpa.corn
May 11, 1998
RECEIVED
Mr. Eric Soroka, City Manager
CityofAventura ~Jk¥ 2 B 19~B
2999 N.E. 19Pt Street
OFFICE OF THE
Aventura, Florida 33180 CiTY MANAGER
Dear Mr. Soroka:
We are pleased to confirm our und ~rstanding of the services we are to provide the City of Aventura, Florida. We
will audit the general purpose fina ~cial statements of the City of Aventura, Florida as of and for the year ended
September 30, 1998.
The objective of our audit is the ex pression of an opinion as to whether the general purpose financial statements
are fairly presented, in all materia respects, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. Our
audit will be conducted in accordan :e with generally accepted auditing standards; the standards for financial audits
contained in Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of The United States and will
include tests of the accounting reco~ ds of the City of Aventura, Florida and other procedures we consider necessary
to enable us to express an unqualifi ~d opinion that the general purpose financial statements are fairly presented, in
all material respects, in confonmt3 with generally accepted accounting principles. If our opinion is other than
unqualified, we will fully discuss tl e reasons with you in advance. If, for any reason, we are unable to complete
the audit, we may decline to expres~ an opinion or may not issue a report as a result of this engagement.
The management of the City of Aw ntura, Florida is responsible for establishing and maintaining internal control.
In fulfilling this responsibility, es imates and judgments by management are required to assess the expected
benefits and related costs of the c mtrols. The objectives of internal control are to provide management with
reasonable, but not absolute, ass~ rance that assets are safeguarded against loss from unauthorized use or
disposition, that transactions are ex .~cuted in accordance with management's authorizations and recorded properly
to permit the preparation of genera! pnm. ose financial statements in accordance with generally accepted acconnting
principles.
In planning and performing our au lit, we will consider the internal control sufficient to plan the audit in order to
dete[mine the nature, timing, and e ~tent of our auditing procedures the purpose of expressing our opinions on the
City s general purpose financial sta :ments.
We will obtain an understanding, the design of the relevant controls and whether they have been placed in
operation, and we will assess contr risk. Tests of controls may be performed to test the effectiveness of certain
controls that we consider relevant , preventing and detecting errors and fraud that are material to the general
purpose financial statements and t~, preventing and detecting misstatements resulting from illegal acts and other
noncompliance matters that have a lirect and material effect on the general purpose financial statements. (Tests of
controls are required only if contrc I risk is assessed below the maximum level.) Our tests, if performed, will be
less in scope than would be necessa to render an opinion on the internal control and, accordingly, no opinion will
be expressed. Home Page: http://www, rchcpa.com
One Southeast Third Aver Tenth Floor, Miami, Florida 33131 o Dade (305) 377-4228 o Fax (305) 377-8331
700 Southeast Third Avenue, T1 ird Floor, Ft.Lauderdale, Florida 33316 * Broward (954) 525-1040 o Fax (954) 525-2004
RCH
Mr Eric Soroka, City Manager
May 11, 1998
Page 2
An audit is not designed to provide assurance on internal control or 1o identify all reportable conditions. However,
we will inform you of any ~natters involving internal control and its operation that we consider to be reportable
conditions under standards establi :hed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Reportable
conditions involve matters coming o our attention relating to significant deficiencies in the design or operation of
the internal control that, in our jud~ :ment, could adversely affect the entity's ability to record, process, smmnarize,
and report financial data consistent veith the assertions of management in the general purpose financial statements.
Identifying and ensuring that the ( iB~ of A,~'entur,% Florida complies with laws, z':gulations, contracts, and .grant
agreements applicable to the City c ~ Aventura, Florida is the responsibility of the City's management~ As part of
obtaining reasonable assurance at out whether the general purpose financial statements am free of material
misstatement, we will perform te :ts of the City's compliance with applicable laws and regulations and the
provisions of contracts and grants. ~Iowever, the objective of our audit will not be to provide an opinion on overall
compliance with such provisions, a~ we will not express such an opinion.
Our procedures will include tests c documentary evidence supporting the transactions recorded in the accounts,
and may include tests of the physic al existence of inventories, and direct confirmation of receivables and certain
other assets and liabilities by corre ;pondence with selected individuals, creditors, and financial institutions. We
will request written representation from your attorneys as part of the engagement, and they may bill you for
responding to this inquiry. At the c inclusion of our audit, we will also request certain written representations fi'om
you about the financial statements a ~d related matters.
An audit includes examining, on * test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial
statements; therefore, our audit wil. involve judgment about the number of transactions to be examined and the
areas to be tested. We will and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance rather than absolute
assurance about whether the statements are free of material misstatement, whether caused by error or
fraud. Because of the concept assurance and because we will not perform a detailed examination of
all transactions, there is a risk that fraud, or other illegal acts may exist and not be detected by us.
However, we will inform you material errors and any fraud that come to our attention. We will also inform
you or any other illegal acts that to our a~tention~ unless clearly inconsequential. Our responsibility as
auditors is limited to the our attdit and does not extend to matters that might arise during any
later periods for as auditors.
Management is responsible for n aking all financial records and related iifformation available to us. We
understand that you will provide us with the basic information required for our audit and that you are responsible
for the accuracy and completeness ¢ fthat information. We will advise you about appropriate accounting principles
and their application and will assis: in the preparation of your financial statements, but the responsibility for the
financial statements remains witt] you. That responsibility includes the establishment and maintenance of
adequate records and effective inter ml control over financial reporting, the selection and application of accounting
principles, and the safeguarding of tssets.
We understand that your employee will prepare all cash or other confirmations we request and will locate auy
invoices selected by us for testing.
RCH
Mr. Eric Soroka, City Manager
May 11, 1998
Page 3
We understand the workpapers fo this engagexnent am the property of Rachlin Cohen & Holtz and constitute
confidential informalion. Howev~ we may be requested to make certain workpapers available to regulatory
agencies pursuant to authority giw to it by law or regulation. If requested, access to such workpapers will be
provided under the supervision of[ chlin Cohen & Holtz personneh Furthermore, upon request, we may provide
photocopies of selected workrpape~ s to regulatory agencies. The regulatory agency may intend, or decide, to
distribute the photocopies of inform ation contained herein to others, including other governmental agencies.
Our fees for these services will be a our standard hourly rates plus out-of-pocket costs, if any. We estimate the fees
to range between $19,000 and $20 P,00. Tiffs con!ract is renewable on a yearly ~a~is at thc optiou of the Ci~' of
Aventura.
Our invoices for these services w~ be rendered as the work progresses and am payable on presentation. In
accordance with our firm's policies should any invoices remain unpaid for more than thirty days, we reserve the
right to defer providing any additic tal services until all outstanding invoices are paid. A late payment chargc of
I% per month will be added to 1l unpaid balances after thirty days. The above fee is based on anticipated
cooperation from your personnel m t the assumption that uncxpected circumstances xvill not be encountered during
the audit. If significant additional 5me is necessary, we will discuss it with you and arrive at a new fee estimate
before we incur the additional costs
If the City of Aventura, Florida is r~quired to have a Single Audit performed in accordance with generally accepted
auditing standards; the standards f~r financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards, issued by the
Comptroller General of the United ~tates; the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996; and the provisions of OMB
Circular A-133, Audits of States, Lqcal Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations, during the period covered by
this letter, we will prepare an addendum to this letter indicating the additional services necessary to complete the
engagement and the additional fee We estimate tbe fees to perform a Single Audit to range from $4,000 to
$5,000.
We appreciate the opportunity to b of continued service to you and look forward to continuing our relationship
with the City of Aventura. If the bregoing is itt accordance with your understanding, pleasc sign the enclosed
copy of this letter in the space provi led and return it to us.
Sincemly,
(~9( Jerry Chiocca, CPA
APPROVED:
Signed: ~..~. ~ ~
Title: ! I
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