County board may seek new round of bids on audit

BESSEMER — The three-year audit for Gogebic County is up for renewal, so the county board of commissioners decided to seek bids from companies to perform the work.

At its meeting on Wednesday, the board received only a single audit bid and it came from Gabridge and Company, of Grand Rapids, the business that performed the most recent audits for the county.

Gabridge bid $19,680 for each audit in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

That led to a discussion of Gabridge’s past performance and whether the board should seek to re-bid the audit.

Commissioner Joe Bonovetz, of Bessemer, said the numbers looked good but the board needed to put together a list of perceived shortcomings with the company.

Board members said the company sent a representative to explain the last audit months late, only after the firm hadn’t received payment for it.

“Nobody seemed real happy with them,” said commissioner Dan Siirila.

But Tom Laabs said the last time the county board received local bids to complete the audit, they came in nearly three times higher than Gabridge’s numbers.

County clerk Gerry Pelissero said Gabridge performed most of its field work in a week’s time and then communicated with the county via computer and emails for information.

The board ended the audit discussion by agreeing to table the matter until the issue can be reviewed by corporate counsel Nick Jacobs.