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Audit fuels dispute in Irondale: councilor calls pause on nonessential spending; city clerk says finances are sound
Summary
Councilor Cindy Cuellar urged a two- to three-month pause on nonessential spending after an audit flagged internal control concerns; City Clerk/Treasurer Leanne told the council the audit produced an unmodified opinion and that some debt figures cited publicly conflate city debt with Public Building Authority debt.
Councilor Cindy Cuellar told the Irondale City Council on June 3 that recent audit findings and year‑end reports showed concerning increases in long‑term debt and a material weakness in internal control, and asked the council to "pause these nonessential expenditures for 2 to 3 months" to reassess the city's finances.
Cuellar said the city's long‑term debt had risen from about $45 million when the current council was sworn in to $114 million "after less than 5 years in office" and calculated a per‑capita debt figure she said was $8,444. She cited an audit finding described in the report as a material weakness and asked for a midyear review and more frequent financial statements.
City Clerk and Treasurer Leanne responded directly to those public statements during the meeting. She told the council, "Iredell's finances are in good condition and the…
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