Prattville receives clean FY24 audit, S&P upgrades city bond rating

Auditors from Malden & Jenkins presented the City of Prattville’s fiscal-year 2024 audit to the city council on May 6 and issued an unmodified — or clean — opinion, the firm said in a presentation to the council.

Crystal Veil, engagement director at Malden & Jenkins, told the council the audit provided reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free of material misstatement. The presentation said total assets and outflows increased roughly $8.3 million while liabilities decreased roughly $7.4 million; the city’s net position increased by approximately $15.8 million in fiscal 2024. The firm reported no material weaknesses and no instances of noncompliance in its single-audit testing for major federal programs.

The audit presentation included general-fund detail: general fund revenues were about $61.7 million, with sales tax revenue reported at about $38.7 million, licenses and permits at about $8.5 million and property tax at about $4.3 million. The presentation showed an unassigned general-fund balance of $19.9 million — about 44% of expenditures as of Sept. 30, 2024.

Separately at the meeting the mayor announced that S&P Global Ratings had raised the city’s long-term bond rating one notch, from double-A negative to double-A, and credited economic growth and the city’s financial position for the upgrade. The mayor and council praised the city finance staff for the audit results; the council authorized posting audit materials to the city website.

The audit presentation noted limited audit adjustments and that the auditors relied on separate auditors for the public library and airport authority financials. The firm also discussed upcoming Governmental Accounting Standards Board pronouncements and items the city should expect to address in future financial statements.