City, CRA receive clean audits; council accepts reports and approves CRA budget presentation

Purvis Gray and Company issued unmodified opinions on the city and Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) financial statements for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2024, and the joint City Council/CRA board unanimously accepted the audited reports and approved the CRA’s draft budget presentation during a special joint meeting.

The unmodified opinions—which auditors described as "the highest level of attestation"—cover both the city and the CRA. Megan Camp, audit director for Purvis Gray’s Tallahassee office, told the council the audits contained no material weaknesses and only one carryover finding in the CRA report that the city has corrected for the current year.

The finding concerned the CRA’s distribution of tax increment financing (TIF) proceeds: the CRA had remitted 100% of certain distributions rather than the 95% required under Florida law. Camp said the practice was identified from the prior year, had been corrected for the current year, and management’s response is in the CRA report.

Camp summarized the audit scope and highlights for the joint body. "We did issue unmodified opinions on both the city and the CRA," Camp said. She noted the audit included a federal single-audit of major federal programs and two major state projects; auditors tested the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds at the federal level and the statewide water quality restoration and…