Council approves 2024 annual comprehensive financial report after auditor flags timing issue

The Santa Fe City Council voted April 10 to approve the city's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2024.

Anna Gallardo, partner with auditing firm Carr, Riggs & Ingram, summarized the firm's work and told the council the auditors issued a modified opinion on the financial statements and a separate modified opinion on compliance for one federal program. Gallardo said the auditors found no material misstatements and no findings related to the single-audit compliance test for COVID-19 federal funding, but they did note a procedural control deficiency tied to timing of expense recognition.

Gallardo explained the issue: some expenses tied to the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) project for Avenue P were recorded in October rather than in the September fiscal year when the expenses were incurred. That mistiming reduced reported expenses and payables for the fiscal year and required audit adjustments. The auditors and staff prepared a corrective action plan that acting city management signed, and Gallardo said the city remains a low-risk auditee.

Council accepted the report by motion and roll call. The recorded roll-call votes were all yes. Council discussion emphasized that no funds were missing and that staff had already implemented a corrective action plan to adjust procedures and avoid a repeat.

The council also received that the report was filed with the Government Finance Officers Association and that the single-audit work covered the federal COVID-19 funding; no compliance breaches were identified.