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Isanti City council accepts 2024 financial audit with single finding on statement preparation
Summary
The city council accepted an unmodified audit of Isanti's 2024 financial statements from accounting firm Abdo, noting one audit finding that city staff had prepared the statements for the auditor.
The Isanti City Council voted to accept the 2024 annual financial report and management letter from accounting firm Abdo during its meeting, citing a clean (unmodified) opinion and a single audit finding about statement preparation.
Abdo manager Kelsey Larson told the council, “as auditors, we are engaged to opine on your financial statements on whether or not they are presented fairly and free from material misstatement.” Larson said her firm issued an unmodified (clean) opinion and found no instances of noncompliance in Minnesota compliance testing areas they reviewed.
The nut graf: The council’s acceptance authorizes the city to finalize and publish the audited 2024 financial statements. The audit showed stronger-than-expected revenue performance that increased the general fund balance and left the city with substantial cash and investment balances.
Adam Owens, senior associate on the audit team, summarized major drivers: permit and license revenues exceeded budget by about $222,000 and investment earnings were about $138,000 higher than anticipated; total general fund revenues were roughly $440,000 above budget and the fund balance increased by about $446,000 during the year. Owens said the city’s cash and investment balances ended the year around $16,000,000, with much of that growth in enterprise funds.
The audit included the required Minnesota compliance testing (examples Larson cited include collateral for deposits, contracting and bidding, and debt procedures); Abdo reported no instances of noncompliance. Larson also noted one audit finding: Abdo assisted in preparing the city’s financial statements, which the firm reported as a finding because the city does not currently have staff or the software to prepare the statements internally.
Council members thanked the auditors for the presentation and for the favorable financial indicators noted, including lower-than-expected debt service and steady control of operating expenditures. Council member Lundin moved to accept the audit report and management letter; Council member Peterson seconded. The motion carried 4-0.
The council did not adopt any new policy changes at the meeting related to the finding; staff advised that smaller governments commonly accept the finding while evaluating longer-term options to shift statement preparation in-house.
The audit presentation included slides on general fund reserves, special revenue and capital project funds, enterprise fund cash flows (water, sewer, stormwater), and key performance indicators comparing Isanti to peer cities.
