Auditors give Round Rock's 2023-24 financial report a clean opinion; council accepts report

The Round Rock City Council on Feb. 27 accepted the city's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and audit for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2024, after auditors from Whitley Penn issued a clean (unmodified) opinion and reported no internal-control findings.

Patrick Simmons, an audit partner with Whitley Penn, told the council the firm conducted interim fieldwork and substantive testing and found no material misstatements or internal-control deficiencies. "We're happy to present an unmodified opinion on the financial statements," Simmons said. He also reported a clean federal single-audit for major programs, including the federal transit cluster, the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (ARPA), and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) programs.

The nut graf: The auditor's unmodified opinion and the absence of control findings indicate the city's financial statements and federal-award compliance met professional standards for the year ending Sept. 30, 2024. Staff described the report contents and the department's plan for posting and for award submissions.

City staff walked the council through the ACFR contents, noting that the Management's Discussion & Analysis, fund statements and notes give readers the context behind balances and that the impact-fee fund rose to major-fund status this year. Staff said the general fund ended the year in a stronger position than budgeted in part because of unfilled positions and lower-than-expected operating costs.

Council members asked about ARPA and how remaining funds will be spent. Staff said ARPA funds were programmed both to stand up the crisis-response unit operations and for capital projects, primarily stormwater and other utility projects, and that ARPA-funded capital projects must be spent by Dec. 31, 2026. The report shows the city expended approximately $6.5 million in federal awards in the fiscal year covered by the audit; staff noted that the single-audit schedule reports expenditures in the year spent rather than amounts received.

Patrick Simmons said that the two standard audit risks (management override of controls and improper revenue recognition) are common to governmental audits and that no additional significant risks were identified. He also said there were no difficulties with management during the audit process.

Ending: The council voted to accept the financial report; staff said the ACFR would be posted on the city website the following day and that a summarized Popular Annual Financial Report would also be prepared.