State auditors issue unmodified clean opinion on City of Lacey's 2024 financial statements

State auditors told Lacey city officials on June 30, 2025, that they are issuing an unmodified clean audit opinion on the city's financial statements for the period Jan. 1, 2024, through Dec. 31, 2024. "We are pleased to report that we are issuing an unmodified clean audit opinion on the city's financial statements," Audit Lead Tony Cuevas said during the presentation.

The opinion means the auditors concluded the statements are "stated fairly and are materially correct," the auditors said. "One of the most important things about our audits is their role to increase trust in government," Audit Manager Lisa Garrell said, explaining the audit team's objectives and methodology.

Auditors said their work followed government auditing standards and that they did not identify any weaknesses in the city's internal controls that required reporting. The team reported no material misstatements identified during the audit; it also provided a list of uncorrected items that it described as immaterial or small in nature and which management has agreed to address in future financial statements. The auditors gave the city an annual comprehensive financial report letter dated June 26, 2025, to support the city's submission for the Certificate of Annual Financial Reporting award program run by the Government Finance Officers Association.

City staff and leaders thanked the audit team and the finance staff for completing the work in time for year-end filing. "Our accounting team is top notch in getting this complete and accurate," City Finance Director Kurt Wu said during closing comments, echoing other officials' praise of Chelsea Arwood, Alex Turcotte and Christie for timely responses that supported the audit.

Auditors also said the audit costs were in alignment with the original estimate provided at the start of the engagement. The state audit team said it is continuing work on the accountability and compliance examinations related to the same period and expects to complete that work in July 2025. Auditors said the city's financial report will publish to the auditors' website likely next week and that the formal ACFR/award letter would be sent to city staff later the same day.

No formal council vote or ordinance resulted from the presentation; the item was an audit report delivered by the auditors. City staff and auditors discussed next steps for correcting immaterial items and submitting supplemental materials for the award program.