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Beaumont receives clean, unmodified audit for fiscal 2024
Summary
Independent auditors issued an unmodified ("clean") opinion on Beaumont's FY2024 financial statements and on federal/state grant compliance, with no significant findings reported, city and auditors said.
Beaumont auditors reported a clean audit of the city's fiscal year 2024 financial statements, and city leaders said the result reflects improvements in finance operations amid staff turnover.
The independent audit firm Patillo, Brown and Hill issued an unmodified opinion — commonly called a "clean" opinion — on Beaumont's FY2024 financial statements and on federal and state grant compliance, Clayton Rogers, an audit manager with Patillo Brown and Hill, told the City Council. "We are able to issue what's called an unmodified opinion on the 2024 financial statements," Rogers said.
The audit tests whether the city's financial statements are materially correct under generally accepted accounting principles, Rogers explained during the council meeting. He said the audit provides "reasonable assurance" and noted limitations of any audit, but said the work found no significant disagreements with management or material problems requiring disclosure.
The auditors also issued an unmodified opinion under the Single Audit Act for the city’s federal and state grant programs. Rogers told council that, beyond the financial statements, the firm produced a separate communication letter required by professional standards; he said it contained standard boilerplate language and no reportable findings.
Council members and the city manager thanked the finance staff for preparing the records that supported the audit. City Manager Christopher S. Boone and Mayor West highlighted the result as evidence of the finance department’s work despite recent turnover. "This comes from the same place that your monthly financials come from," Rogers said, adding that the city’s finance staff organized records and assisted auditors throughout the process.
The presentation to council was an information item; no formal action was required. The audit documents are part of the city's public record and were available to council and to the public during and after the meeting.
City officials said they would continue to use the audit and the annual comprehensive financial report as reference documents for budgeting and for tracking processes and controls going forward.
