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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 city is being managed responsibly," and said the city's audited financial statements for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2024 received an unmodified opinion from the independent audit firm BMSS, indicating the statements "present fairly in all material respects" under generally accepted accounting principles.
Leanne also disputed the $114 million figure as a city obligation, saying the city has $62,205,000 in long‑term debt and that additional borrowing cited in public comments was held by the Public Building Authority (PBA), a separately incorporated governmental entity. Leanne said PBA debt is not the city's long‑term debt and noted the city held a double‑A credit rating.
Other speakers raised related numbers and legal filings: Carter Dukes, a resident, said the city had filed a pleading in circuit court that listed the debt at $99 million; the transcript records this as Dukes's statement. Cuellar and others emphasized that certain settlement or restricted funds — she named Rebuild Alabama and opioid settlement proceeds — should not be included in the general fund unless handled according to legal restrictions.
Audit content: During the public exchange Cuellar referenced language from the audit indicating a "deficiency in internal control" which the auditors classified as a "material weakness" and an item described in the schedule of findings and responses (item 24‑002) on page 94 of the audit. The clerk cited BMSS's unmodified opinion on the city's financial statements for the year ending Sept. 30, 2024.
Discussion versus decision: Cuellar asked the council to pause certain spending and to require more regular financial reporting; no formal council action to pause spending was taken during the meeting. The council approved routine bills and consent items during the session, and several council members and residents said the audit's presence in the agenda process and the timing of release complicated review.
Why it matters: The exchange highlights a substantive policy dispute about fiscal transparency, fund accounting for restricted settlement or grant proceeds, and how long‑term debt should be presented to the public. The council and city staff provided conflicting public statements about debt totals and accounting treatment; those differences were not resolved at the meeting and will require follow‑up documentation and possibly legal or accounting review.
Attributions in this article come from: Councilor Cindy Cuellar, City Clerk/Treasurer Leanne, and resident Carter Dukes; auditor firm BMSS is cited in the clerk's remarks.
