Lawrence committee reviews 2024 year-end finances; council seeks solution after legal-services spending reaches about 40%

The City of Lawrence Common Council Administration Budget and Finance Committee on Feb. 19 reviewed the city's 2024 year-end financials, received a reconciliation update from outside auditors Baker Tilly and pressed staff for immediate action after council professional-services spending — including consulting fees — had already used about 40% of the council's legal-services line early in 2025.

Committee Chair (Councilor) opened the meeting at 5:02 p.m. and asked staff to present the cross-fund year-end report. Chief of Staff said she had a Baker Tilly letter updating bank reconciliations and read the firm's summary: “In general, while there are minimal outside outstanding items that we are analyzing, things at year end appear in good order.” The letter said the city's bank accounts totaled about $75 million across all funds as of Dec. 31, 2024, and that Baker Tilly staff were on-site to help ensure adjustments are posted to New World and to work on the city's annual financial report, which must be submitted to the State of Indiana by March 1.

Why it matters: The committee sought clarity on how those overall reserves translate to the general fund and on recent appropriations that council members said create uncertainty for council operations. Councilors pressed staff because the council's legal-services line has already been significantly drawn down in the first two months of 2025, which members said could impair their ability to pay for legal or related professional services later in the year.

Staff told the committee the 2024 cross-fund report shows an ending general fund balance of roughly $9.16 million (figures are preliminary and subject to reconciliation). The controller said the reconciliation work is nearly complete and that outstanding variances appear immaterial; staff cited one bank-account variance of about $10,000 that remained to be tied to general ledger accounts.

On appropriations and specific fund items, the controller said two notable additional appropriations in late 2024 were for sanitation (about $437,500 charged to fund 630 under other services and charges) and for post-employment benefits (about $200,000). The controller told the committee the sanitation appropriation was recorded under the appropriate sanitation fund rather than the general fund. The chief of staff and controller also discussed an administrative-services line item that staff said they would follow up on with a corrected figure.

Councilors pressed staff about a council decision to hire consultant Adam Stone and why the related consulting invoices were charged to the council's professional-services/legal budget. One councilor said: “Those were financial consulting services and not legal services, so why was it paid for out of the legal budget?” The controller explained that the council’s professional-services line (the 4-3x series) includes engineering, legal and consulting, and invoices can be paid from that line without separate council approval when they fall under the same appropriation category.

Committee members said they were concerned that the council's legal/professional-services line had already reached about 40% consumption in February. The controller explained options for addressing a shortfall — including a transfer resolution between line items or funds, or an additional appropriation — and said the city typically waits until a midyear review (June–July) to make transfers based on department-by-department performance. The controller also said the late issuance of an engagement letter limited staff's ability to seek a 2024 additional appropriation before year end; staff offered to verify dates offline.

The council requested that staff prepare a solution so the council does not reach 60%–70% of its legal budget in early spring. The controller said the immediate path for the council to obtain that comfort level would be a formal additional-appropriation request from the council; transfers from other departments would typically await midyear review. The committee agreed to meet monthly to review the monthly budget report and asked for cross-fund and reconciliation materials a few days before future meetings.

The meeting produced no final votes or formal appropriation actions at that session; staff committed to follow up with detailed fund listings and to prepare any requested appropriation paperwork. The committee adjourned after the follow-up commitments.

Ending: The committee set a near-term follow-up to review the requested materials; staff will return with corrected figures and, if necessary, a formal additional-appropriation request or transfer options for council consideration.