The Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission board of directors is scheduled to vote Monday evening on awarding a contract for a forensic audit to delve into the agency’s deficit spending and depletion of reserves in recent years.

Interim CEO Brian Angus had recommended that the audit focus on three areas — transportation, food services, and administration — with the biggest deficits. In the audit committee minutes, Angus said those programs are funded by fee-for-service, not grants.

But the audit committee voted unanimously last month on a motion by Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula to also include Head Start, the agency’s biggest program.

Arambula, who replaced his mother, Amy, on the commission board last fall after she raised concerns about its finances, had called for a forensic audit when he wrote a public letter to commissioners charging that the agency had been “hemorrhaging” money and draining its reserves.

Related Story: When Did Fresno EOC Finances Start Their Downhill Plunge?

The board is scheduled to vote on a $123,250 forensic audit contract with Wipfli, a Minneapolis-based accounting firm. The timeframe for completing the audit is 10 weeks, and auditors will review spending for 2023 and 2024.

Cost-cutting Under Way

At the January board meeting representatives from the transit and food services departments made budget presentations for 2025 that promised either net profits or no deficits for 2025. Jon Escobar, food services director, told the commissioners that this year’s contracts would have an “act of God” clause that would allow for price adjustments in the event of changing market conditions. “We’ve never had this in before,” he told the board.

Any revenue decreases will be reported on a monthly basis to the Finance Committee and will spark a corresponding drop in expenditures, Angus told the board.

“If revenues drop, you have to cut expenses, it’s that simple,” he said.

Angus, who had served as CEO until 2019, was rehired as interim CEO after the board voted not to renew the contract of then-CEO Emilia Reyes.

Since then, the agency has undertaken a number of cost-cutting moves, such as laying off staffers. The layoffs include Michelle Tutunjian, the chief operating officer who was named acting CEO late last year when the commission put Reyes on leave, and chief of staff Karina Perez.

Related Story: Fresno EOC Tightens Belt Through Layoffs. Former Acting CEO Is Among Them.

The board meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. and will be held in Suite 310 at 1920 Mariposa St. in downtown Fresno.