by Scott Nishimura, Fort Worth Report
March 14, 2026
The Fort Worth Housing Finance Corp. board received a largely positive audit report Feb. 24, with the city auditor concluding that expenses were generally appropriate and properly approved, while identifying several internal control weaknesses that have since been corrected.
At the meeting, the board — comprising Mayor Mattie Parker and seven City Council members — approved the minutes from its January session and reviewed unaudited financial statements before turning to a presentation from city auditor Patrice Randle on the results of an expense review audit.
The audit examined expenses paid between Oct. 1, 2023, and March 31, 2025, and was aimed at determining whether payments were properly reviewed, approved and supported by documentation.
“Overall, the expenses were reviewed and approved as required,” Randle told board members, adding that costs were found to be reasonable and allowable.
However, auditors identified several control weaknesses related to segregation of duties, blank check stock security, maintenance of supporting documentation, and the absence of some formal written procedures.
One issue involved the use of a generic user ID to approve certain bank transactions, making it difficult to determine whether responsibilities were properly segregated among staff. Auditors also flagged security concerns around the storage of and access to blank check stock.
In addition, some expense files lacked sufficient documentation. Randle cited examples from permanent supportive housing programs in which bus passes were purchased for clients, but records did not clearly identify which clients received them or how many passes were distributed. In other instances, auditors noted that while expenses were allocated across accounts, the method used to calculate those allocations was not documented.
Despite those findings, Randle emphasized that exceptions were minimal. In response to a board question about the scale of the bus pass issue, she said only three instances were identified.
Fort Worth Housing Finance Corp.
Regular Meeting
Documenter: Lou Chapman
Date: Feb. 24, 2026
To read more about the FWHFC and this meeting, click here. For the agenda, click here.
Management concurred with all audit recommendations and provided implementation timelines. Recommendations with a Jan. 31 deadline have already been fully implemented, including deactivating generic user IDs and addressing check stock controls. Three additional recommendations originally targeted for completion by Feb. 28 were partially implemented during the initial follow-up and have now been fully completed as well.
“We commend staff on that,” Randle said, referring to the swift corrective action.
The audit also included two suggestions rather than formal findings. Auditors recommended that future property contracts — such as those for mowing services — include specific unit addresses to improve clarity, even though auditors were ultimately able to trace the charges to the appropriate locations.
Additionally, the auditor suggested competitively bidding the corporation’s mowing services contract, which has been held by the same vendor since June 2016.
Keisha Light, assistant neighborhood services director, confirmed that staff are in discussions with the city’s procurement department and will bring additional information to the board.
Board members also asked about the process for tracking blank-check inventory going forward. Staff said a formal policy has been adopted, and a manual inventory checklist will be completed twice a year, with the first review scheduled for June. Because the corporation rarely uses checks, staff indicated that the manual process should be manageable.
Lou Chapman is a member of the Fort Worth Report Documenters crew. If you believe anything in this account is inaccurate, please email us at news@fortworthreport.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
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