Marco Island’s $70,000 Audit Turns Into a $187,190 Masterclass in Math Magic

Ah, Marco Island. Home of pristine beaches, million-dollar condos, and now, apparently, accounting invoices that multiply faster than rabbits at a carrot buffet.

In September 2025, the City of Marco Island received a bill from CliftonLarsonAllen for their yearly audit. The contract was a polite and manageable $70,000. Instead, the firm served up a surprise entrée of $187,190, plus a garnish of “material weaknesses” in financial controls. Translation: Marco Island just paid three times the agreed price to be told it’s bad with money. Delicious irony, served hot.

Now, some people might look at this and say, “Wait, isn’t that… you know… a problem?” But let’s be honest—this is Marco Island. Where else can you pay more than double for something and call it “coastal charm”? Think of it as artisanal auditing, with a side of budgetary gaslighting.

The phrase “material weaknesses” is particularly poetic. It’s the financial equivalent of your doctor saying, “Well, technically you’re alive, but everything else is on fire.” It suggests not just a few missed receipts, but a fundamental inability to track dollars without them slipping out the back door like teenagers at a curfew party.

And yet, the city is shocked—shocked!—to learn that their audit cost ballooned. Because nothing says fiscal discipline like writing a blank check and then acting surprised when someone fills it in with a Ferrari payment.

Here’s the kicker: taxpayers paid nearly triple to discover their government’s financial oversight is about as sturdy as a sandcastle at high tide. But hey, that’s Marco Island: where the cocktails are overpriced, the sunsets are free, and the audits come with “material weaknesses” baked right into the bill.