(a) The governing board of a regional center shall annually contract with an independent accounting firm for an audited financial statement. The audit report and accompanying management letter shall be reviewed and approved by the regional center board and submitted to the department within 60 days of completion and before April 1 of each year. Upon submission to the department, the audit report and accompanying management letter shall be made available to the public by the regional center. It is the intent of the Legislature that no additional funds be appropriated for this purpose.
(b) For the 2011–12 fiscal year and subsequent years, the audit specified in subdivision (a) shall not be completed by the same accounting firm more than five times in every 10 years.