City auditor reports clean opinion; notes pension and revenue trends

Monticello — The city’s outside auditor, Steve Groening of MCK CPAs, told the City Council on Aug. 11 that the annual financial statements earned a clean opinion but included a routine qualification tied to other post-employment benefit (OPEB) calculations. Groening, presenting the audit, said total city assets rose to nearly $52 million from about $46 million a year earlier and total net position increased to about $33.8 million, up from $31.5 million. He said the asset increase reflected bond and debt-certificate proceeds and associated capital projects. The audit showed governmental fund revenues of about $9 million for the year, down from $9.8 million the prior year. Groening attributed much of the decline to a drop in the state’s personal property replacement tax (PPRT), which fell from roughly $3.7 million in 2024 to about $2.2 million in the current year. Business-type (water and sewer) revenues rose roughly $200,000 year over year, leaving an excess of operating revenues over expenses of just under $600,000 and an overall positive change in those fund positions of about $400,000. Groening described one qualification on the audit related to the city not contracting with an outside actuary to compute OPEB liabilities; he called it a common practice for similar governments and said it does not affect the core audit opinion. He also noted one recurring report item: the city relies on the auditor to prepare full financial statements and disclosures rather than employing a full-time preparer, a practice he said is common for many clients. On pension funding, Groening pointed to the city’s Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) plan funded at about 97 percent and the public-safety (SLEP) plan at about 103 percent. He said the police pension fund had improved substantially from earlier years and was nearly 75 percent funded as of the 2023 actuarial report. He noted the council made extra contributions in recent years and cited an actuary-recommended 2024 contribution that the city exceeded. Groening also summarized recent debt: approximately $745,000 in general-obligation bonds issued for street work and about $3.79 million in general-obligation debt certificates for park projects, which increased liabilities but were matched to capital spending. No formal council action on the audit was recorded during the presentation.