The Mount Pleasant City Council on July 21 accepted the city's fiscal year 2024 financial audit following a presentation by auditor Austin Henderson and a review of internal-control recommendations by Finance Director Jillian.

Austin Henderson, a CPA who conducted the audit, told the council the auditors issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the city's Sept. 30, 2024, financial statements. Henderson summarized key items: an increase in citywide cash largely from bond proceeds, a modest decline in net position, and an increase in the general fund's unassigned fund balance to 19% of expenditures. He said he reviewed pension disclosures and noted a current funded ratio of about 86% for the city's TMRS pension plan.

Henderson also described the audit process and the communication letters auditors provide to elected officials, including a letter on internal controls and one describing adjustments. He told the council the audit found no uncorrected misstatements and that the city cooperated with auditors.

Finance Director Jillian addressed items in the internal-control letter, listing administrative steps the city already has taken or will take: improving year-end closing policies to minimize adjusting entries, instituting secondary vendor contact verification to reduce risk of fraudulent payments, reconciling police escrow liability items to named individuals, segregating duties in utility-billing adjustment workflows (moving from two staff to three), requiring director signoff on purchasing-card statements, and ensuring timely year-end journal entries.

Council members asked technical questions about items in the report, including how Civic Center revenues and expenses are reported in prior years and the size of mixed-beverage-tax receipts. Henderson and Jillian answered that some historical reporting changes explain blank columns in the statistical section and that mixed-beverage-tax revenue was about $30,000 for the year cited.

After discussion, the council voted unanimously to accept the audit report. The motion and vote were recorded and will be included with the city's audit package.

The audit and the staff responses identify policy and operational items the city plans to address before the next audit cycle; Jillian said the city's goal is to reduce the number of auditor adjustments in the next year.

Votes at a glance related to this item
- Motion: Accept the fiscal year 2024 financial audit.
- Outcome: Passed unanimously.