TO: RULES AND OPEN
GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
FROM: Joe Rois,
City Auditor
SUBJECT: Monthly Report of Activities
for September 2026
DATE: September 30, 2026
RECOMMENDATION
Approve the Auditor’s Office Monthly Report of Activities for the month of September 2026.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
Charter Section 8.05(e) requires the City Auditor to submit a monthly report to the City Council of our activities, findings, and recommendations. This report summarizes reports issued, other activities, assignments in process, and the status of the City Auditor’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026-27 Work Plan during the month of September 2026.
Activities During the Month of September:
1. Issued Status of Open Audit Recommendations as of June 30, 2026. The report is online at:
https://www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/134259.
The office also updated the online interactive dashboards of audit recommendations. These can be found at: https://www.sanjoseca.gov/yourgovernment/appointees/city-auditor/audit-recommendations.
2. Issued Vehicle Abatement: Improvements to Timeliness, Oversight, and Customer Service Can Enhance the Vehicle Abatement Program.
The report is online at:
https://www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/134506/.
3. Macias, Gini & O’Connell (MGO) issued several of the City’s annual financial audits. The reports are online at: https://www.sanjoseca.gov/yourgovernment/appointees/city-auditor/external-financial-audits.
4. Donovan Torres joined the Office as a Program Performance Auditor I.
Donovan graduated from Stanford University in June 2026 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Science in Management Science and Engineering. In 2025, Donovan interned with our office through the Stanford in Government fellowship program.
ROGC AGENDA: 10/7/26
ITEM: B.3
RULES AND OPEN GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
9-30-26
Monthly Report of Activities for September 2026
Information on the status of the City Auditor’s FY 2026-27 Work Plan is attached.
Overall, the Office has completed 6 of the 20 projects on the FY 2026-27 Work Plan.1 On behalf of the Auditor’s Office, I would like to express my appreciation to City staff for their cooperation and assistance during our reviews.
Joe Rois
City Auditor
Attachment
1 The approved work plan includes 18 projects. The two semi-annual recommendation status reports are listed as one project but separated here to show progress. Similarly, the two semi-annual compliance reviews of the City’s investment program are listed as one project on the work plan but separated here.
RULES AND OPEN GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
9-30-26
Monthly Report of Activities for September 2026
Status of the City Auditor’s FY 2026-27 Audit Work Plan As of September 2026
Assignments Completed Objective Status Issuance
Date
1. Housing loan portfolio Assess the Housing Department’s processes for managing the affordable housing loan portfolio,
including loan servicing and compliance monitoring.
(outstanding audit request)
Completed June
2026
2. Employee turnover Review turnover across departments and identify potential causes and strategies to mitigate negative
impacts on services, including succession planning.
(per Councilmember request)
Completed August
2026
3. Office of Economic
Development and Cultural
Affairs performance
measures
Assess the reliability, validity, and usefulness of the Office’s reported or tracked performance measures.
(Councilmembers have made multiple requests for
audits about the City’s performance management in
prior years. This is the second of what is expected to
be an ongoing series of audits related to the City’s
performance measurement and management
systems)
Completed August
2026
4. Semi-annual audit
recommendation status
report
The City Auditor’s Office will maintain an online
dashboard of audit recommendations and issue a
report on the implementation status of all open audit
recommendations as of June 30, 2026.
Completed
September
2026
(projected)
5. Vehicle Abatement Assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the Vehicle Abatement program, including timeliness and other
program goals, and communication with residents.
Completed September
2026
6. Semi-annual compliance
reviews of the City’s
investment program
(contracted audit service)
The City’s investment policy requires semi-annual
compliance audits of the City’s investment portfolio.
The independent certified public accounting firm
Macias Gini & O’Connell LLP (MGO) will conduct the
agreed-upon procedures as of June 30th.
Complete September
2026
Assignments in Process Objective Status Issuance
Date
7. Annual Report on City
Services
19th annual report providing data about the cost,
quality, quantity, and timeliness of City services. The report includes performance data, showing ten-year
historical trends, a variety of comparisons to other
cities, and the results of resident surveys.
In process December
2026
8. Park maintenance As directed by the City Council on March 17, 2026, study the park maintenance program, with a scope to
include staffing, routes, processes for evaluating
maintenance needs, and geographic equity and
provide recommendations on best practices.
In process
February
2027
(projected)
RULES AND OPEN GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
9-30-26
Monthly Report of Activities for September 2026
Assignments in Process Objective Status Issuance
Date
9. Vacant Storefronts As directed by the Rules and Open Government Committee on June 17, 2026, evaluate existing
restaurant and small business programs within
OEDCA and PBCE to identify opportunities to
strengthen interdepartmental coordination and better
align program resources toward activation of vacant
storefronts. The analysis should assess program
effectiveness, administrative feasibility, fiscal impacts, and policy implications.
In process TBD
10. Monthly Report of
Activities
The City Auditor will provide the Rules and Open
Government Committee with a monthly report on the
Office’s activities, including released audits, the status of the approved work plan, and other information
necessary to keep the Council informed of the Office’s
activities.
In process On-going
11. Annual external financial
audit and single audit
(contracted audit service)
The City Charter requires an annual audit of the City’s financial transactions. MGO will conduct the annual
audits of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports
of the City and the Airport. MGO will also conduct
audits of the financial statements of the Successor
Agency to the Redevelopment Agency, Convention
Center, Deferred Compensation, Tier 3 Defined
Contribution Plan, Voluntary Employee Beneficiary
Association (VEBA), Metropolitan Transportation
Commission (MTC) grant compliance, South Bay
Water Recycling, San José Clean Energy (SJCE),
wastewater treatment funds, and the Single Audit
(including Airport passenger facility charges and
customer facility charges).
In process
(several
projects
complete)
September
2026
through
March
2027
(projected)
12. Annual audits of voterapproved bond and parcel
tax measures (contracted
audit service)
MGO will conduct audits of the Branch Library Bond
Projects Fund, the Parks and Recreation Bond
Projects Fund, the Library Parcel Tax Fund, and the
Public Safety and Infrastructure (“Measure T”) Bond
Fund satisfying the City’s obligation for guaranteed
annual audits.
In process
October
2026
(projected)
13. Compliance review of
San José Clean Energy’s
risk management practices
(contracted audit service)
MGO will conduct tests of SJCE investment and risk
management practices to ensure compliance with the
City’s Energy Risk Management Policy and Energy
Risk Management Regulations as of FY Ended June
30, 2026.
In process
November
2026
(projected)
Assignments Not Yet
Started Objective Status Issuance Date
14. Annual Performance
Review of Team San Jose
and the Convention and
Visitors Bureau
Annual review to determine whether Team San Jose
met their performance metrics as of June 30, 2026. Not
started
November
2026
RULES AND OPEN GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
9-30-26
Monthly Report of Activities for September 2026
Note: The approved work plan includes 18 projects. The two semi-annual recommendation status reports are listed as one project but separated here to show progress. Similarly, the two semi-annual compliance reviews of the City’s investment program are listed as one project on the work plan but separated here.
The City Auditor’s Fiscal Year 2026-27 Work Plan is online at:
https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/appointees/city-auditor/annual-work-plans Assignments Not Yet
Started Objective Status Issuance Date
15. Semi-annual audit
recommendation status
report
The City Auditor’s Office will maintain an online
dashboard of audit recommendations and issue a
report on the implementation status of all open audit
recommendations as of December 31, 2026.
Not
started
March
2027
(projected)
16. Semi-annual compliance
reviews of the City’s
investment program
(contracted audit service)
The City’s investment policy requires semi-annual
compliance audits of the City’s investment portfolio.
The independent certified public accounting firm
Macias Gini & O’Connell LLP (MGO) will conduct the
agreed-upon procedures as of December 31st.
Not
started
March
2027
(projected)
17. Cardroom oversight (per
Mayor request)
Assess the Police Department's oversight of the City's
cardrooms, including potential duplication of
monitoring and enforcement with state regulators and
benchmarking with other jurisdictions' oversight
programs.
Not
started TBD
18. American Disabilities Act
(ADA) complaint
procedures (outstanding
audit requests)
Assess the City’s processes to respond to ADA
complaints related to City programs and services. Not
started TBD
19. Fleet procurement
(outstanding audit
requests)
Assess the efficiency and timeliness of the City’s fleet acquisition process.
Not
started TBD
20. Data Governance Policy Assess progress on implementation of key elements of the City’s Data Governance Policy, such as policies,
procedures, and roles for effective management and
oversight of the City’s data assets.
Not
started TBD