a. The city, in accordance with subdivision b of this section and section ninety-seven of this chapter, shall take such action as may be necessary to enable an independent certified public accounting firm or consortium of such firms to perform an annual audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and to furnish to the city, in accordance with subdivision b of this section, the report on such audit prepared by such firm or consortium of firms, which report shall include an opinion as to whether the city's financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and shall state whether the audit of such financial statements was made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. The city shall make available for inspection and copying all books, records, work papers and other data and material as required by such auditors, and officers and employees of the city shall be made available to, and shall cooperate with, such auditors so as to permit such annual audit to be completed and the report issued within four months after the close of the city's fiscal year.
b. The annual audit described in subdivision a of this section shall be made by a firm or firms of certified public accountants, as set forth in such subdivision, selected by the audit committee. Copies of the annual audit shall be submitted to the mayor, the comptroller, the council and the state comptroller and shall be published in the City Record. No audit engagement contract pursuant to this section shall exceed four years.