Auditor issues unmodified opinion on Dearborn Heights 2024 financials; flags thin fund balance and repeat control issues

Jay Wild, lead auditor for Plante Moran, told the Dearborn Heights City Council at a March 18 study session that Plante Moran issued an unmodified opinion on the city’s financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, and that the report was issued in February after a state-granted extension caused by a delayed OPEB actuarial valuation.

That unmodified opinion, Wild said, means that “in our opinion, the information in the statements and the disclosures is fairly stated.” He told the council the firm provided the opinion after completing its procedures and that the report’s timing reflected receipt of an outside actuarial valuation, not other accounting problems.

The audit highlights presented to council show the city’s total assets declined from about $44.4 million at June 30, 2023, to $42.7 million at June 30, 2024, while liabilities rose from about $20.9 million to $26.4 million. Wild said one material timing driver of the liability increase was a delayed transfer of captured tax…