City audit finds clean opinion; single-audit testing of ARPA spending shows no material weaknesses

Blake Pace, CPA of Deckard and Pace, told the Board of Alders that the firm issued a clean opinion on the city’s financial statements for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2024.

Pace said the clean, or unmodified, opinion means “the financial information presented to us is in fact free from material misstatement, and it is in the right format per government accounting standards.” He also reported that the city exceeded the federal Single Audit threshold and that auditors performed additional testing of ARPA spending.

The audit booklet presented to aldermen shows governmental funds recorded $5,216,521 in revenues and $4,956,207 in expenditures, producing a net increase in fund balance of $278,311. Pace said the governmental cash balance was $4,877,901—about a year’s worth of operating cash and well above the 3–6 month benchmark auditors use. For the water and sewer enterprise fund, operating revenue was $3,202,782 against expenses of $3,168,868 and a reported change in net position of $1,401,241, driven largely by grant income.

Pace briefly described the Single Audit work required because the city expended more than $750,000 in federal funds. “We look at your internal control over your financial reporting processes, and then we look at your internal control over your grant program specifically,” he said. The auditors selected ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) as the major federal program for testing and reported no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies and an unmodified compliance opinion for that program.

Board members asked if a one‑page summary could be posted; Wes (staff member) confirmed the summary can be published. Pace offered follow‑up support at no additional cost and made himself available for questions after the meeting.

The presentation was informational; no formal action or vote was taken on the audit report at this meeting.