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Berwyn reports $2.2 million 2024 general‑fund shortfall; auditor issues clean opinion
Summary
The city’s 2024 audited financial statements show a $2.2 million general‑fund deficit driven by lower local tax and red‑light camera revenues; the independent auditor issued an unmodified opinion and the single audit remains in draft.
City Comptroller Daish told the Berwyn City Council that the city’s 2024 annual comprehensive financial report shows a general‑fund deficit of $2,200,000 and recommended aligning 2025 spending with the audited 2024 revenue levels.
The deficit, Daish said, resulted mainly from lower local tax collections — including municipal utility taxes that finished roughly 22% below the 2024 budget — and the loss of revenue from red‑light camera enforcement, which the city expects could return only when traffic signals are fully operational. "Our fund balance remains in a strong position at $19,000,000," Daish added, noting the city’s policy target of 16% of the next year’s budgeted expenditures (about $11,600,000) remains met.
The city’s independent auditor, John Wysocki, summarized required communications and told the council his firm had issued an unmodified opinion on the financial statements. "Management is responsible for the preparation of the financial statements... our responsibility is to test the information for accuracy and completeness," Wysocki said, and he reported no significant audit difficulties and no federal compliance findings so far in draft single‑audit work on two major programs.
The report showed the utility fund posted operating income of about $3,400,000 in 2024, roughly similar to 2023, which the presentation said supports debt service and water‑main replacement projects. Council members asked follow‑up questions about which revenue streams and expenditures produced the deficit; Daish attributed higher than expected health‑insurance and liability/claims costs among the primary expenditure pressures.
Council discussion also addressed budgeting assumptions: Daish said the city is projecting no revenue growth in 2025 and 2026 versus audited 2024 levels and advised conservative spending. Councilors asked whether the adopted 2025 budget assumed partial restoration of red‑light camera revenue; Daish said the 2025 budget assumed roughly six months of camera revenue and that the timing for full restoration was uncertain.
The council accepted the 2024 annual comprehensive financial report as informational. Wysocki said the single‑audit report for federal programs — including the American Rescue Plan Act and the federal funding tied to the Depot streetscape — remains in draft and is expected shortly; he reported no federal compliance findings to date.
Background information in the report provided comparative audited results for 2021–2024 and the comptroller emphasized that, despite the deficit, the city’s fund balance exceeds its policy minimum and can serve as a cushion while revenue assumptions are adjusted.
