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City auditor issues clean opinion; Moline reports $36 million in 2024 capital projects and full ARPA spenddown
Summary
Finance staff reported a clean audit for the year ended Dec. 31, 2024, no internal control findings, all ARPA funds spent, and $36 million completed in capital projects. Staff flagged upcoming pension and property‑tax clawbacks to watch in the 2026 budget.
The City of Moline’s preliminary financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2024, were presented to council with a clean audit opinion and no internal control findings, finance staff reported.
Finance director Barnes told the council, “I am very pleased to say that we have a clean audit report for December 31. We had no internal control findings or material weaknesses.” Barnes said the city’s auditors, Baker Tilly, will present the final report on June 3 and that the preliminary statements were presented fairly with no material misstatements.
Barnes told council the city recorded more than $13 million in federal awards for 2024, of which more than $11 million was ARPA funding. She said all ARPA funding had been spent and the city is awaiting federal portal opening to formally close the awards. The presentation noted the general fund ended 2024 with an ending fund balance equal to 26.17% of expenditures (policy target 20–25 percent) and cited $576,000 in excess general‑fund balance potentially available for council allocation.
On capital spending, Barnes said the city completed about $36 million in capital projects in 2024; approximately $20 million of that total was street work. Barnes also outlined internal fund conditions: parks, library, water, stormwater and sanitation funds were within policy, and insurance/internal service funds showed favorable claims performance compared with 2023.
Barnes flagged several budget risks for 2026: expected employer pension contribution increases for police and fire (estimated additional pension costs near $400,000) and a 17.7 percent increase in IMRF employer rates. She also reminded the council of a state‑level personal property replacement tax “clawback” the city is absorbing (estimated around $3.2 million total, with roughly $2 million taken last year and more to come) and said staff will monitor proposed federal cutbacks.
Council received the report; auditors will deliver a final audit presentation on June 3, and staff said they will continue to brief council as budget planning continues.
