A Performance Audit of Salt Lake County Contracts and Procurement

March 26, 2026

Report Highlights

Opportunities to Reduce the Risk of Actual or Perceived Bias in Selection Committee and Scoring

We identified opportunities to strengthen conflict of interest management, documentation, and oversight within the County’s RFP selection process. While Contracts and Procurement has established practices in place, opportunities exist to further formalize procedures for assessing unrestricted conflicts of interest, consistently documenting and retaining conflict of interest reviews, and ensuring timely completion of required COI forms.
In addition, documentation related to committee attendance, scoring, and proposer interviews was not always complete, and independent checks to confirm scoring accuracy were not consistently performed. Enhancing these processes would improve transparency and consistency and help further reduce the risk of actual or perceived bias in vendor evaluations, as well as mitigate the potential for procurement protests or legal challenges.

Opportunities to Enhance Contracts and Procurement’s Involvement in Third-Party Cooperative Procurements

As permitted by Salt Lake County Ordinance, the County may engage third-party consultants to assist with the development and execution of certain complex procurements. However, Contracts and Procurement staff do not track, review, or document these procurements using a formal process. Limited involvement by Contracts and Procurement in key stages of a third-party RFP, combined with inconsistent record retention and unclear oversight expectations, reduces transparency and may result in less vendor competition. Management should establish formal policies and standardized procedures for review, documentation, and oversight to help align third-party procurements with County practices and support accountability.