The Village of Waunakee Finance Committee accepted the villages 2024 financial statements and the draft audit report from Baker Tilly on July 21 following a presentation by the accounting firm.
Justin Hoagland, principal at Baker Tilly, told the committee the firm planned to issue the final statements the next day so long as there were no last-minute changes and said the firm would issue an unmodified ("clean") opinion on the statements.
Hoagland said the audit found no journal entries that Baker Tilly required the village to adjust this year, a rare result he said many municipalities do not achieve. He also summarized three areas of trending focus for local governments: funding evaluation and pursuit, digital transformation and cybersecurity.
The presentation to the committee also reviewed key financial highlights. Baker Tilly reported the villages general fund ended 2024 with roughly $2.3 million in assigned fund balance, including $731,000 assigned for the 2025 budget and about $960,000 estimated for a sick-leave conversion liability for certain employees. The firm noted the villages unassigned general fund ratio equated to about 28.9 percent of routine expenditures, or roughly three and a half months of spending.
Hoagland said the village outperformed its adopted 2024 budget: revenues were about $681,000 above budget (including about $315,000 of higher-than-expected investment income and roughly $170,000 more in licenses and permits), and overall net income was nearly $300,000 instead of the budgeted use of fund balance of about $1.1 million. Expenditures were roughly $700,000 under budget, reflecting a mix of line-item savings.
Committee members asked Baker Tilly to clarify common audit comments for small governments, particularly segregation-of-duties findings and decentralized cash collections at points such as the library, police and recreation. Hoagland said segregation-of-duties items are common in small municipalities; some items are noted as a material weakness in overall controls, while decentralized cash-collection points were listed as "other comments and recommendations." He offered to work with the village on whether steps to remove the comment would be cost-effective.
Motion and formal action: Kristen Runge moved to accept the 2024 financial statements and reporting and insights from the 2024 audit draft reports; Paul Cardarella seconded. The committee voted in favor; the motion carried.
No statutory citations beyond the accounting standards and the audit report were used in the committees motion.
The committee accepted the audit presentation and the auditors recommendation to review specific control items; the village staff and auditors agreed to follow up on possible remediation strategies and resources recommended by Baker Tilly.