Auditors give Town of Loxahatchee Groves a clean opinion; committee flags legal and engineering shortfalls

Andrew Fehrman, the partner in charge of the town audit at Caballero Fehrman Guerra & Garcia, presented a draft annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2024, saying the auditors expect to issue a final report next week and that the audit carries an unmodified (clean) opinion.

The report showed the town’s total governmental fund balance near $2.5 million at year end, with about $1.85 million unassigned. Fehrman also noted the town’s capital assets total roughly $9.76 million on the financial statements and that the audit identified no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal control.

The committee took up the town’s quarterly and interim financial reports and asked staff to prepare a concise, three-page dashboard summarizing fund balances, cash and budget-to-actual performance. David Delilani of Projected Point — the finance consultant presenting quarterly results — told members he will produce a shorter dashboard and a rolled-forward projection in time for the committee’s follow-up meeting.

Committee members and staff identified several items likely to require budget amendments. Staff reported the town has exhausted its adopted budget for general legal services and code enforcement and expects continuing attorney costs. Based on invoices received through March, staff estimated a supplemental appropriation in the range of $230,000 to cover ongoing legal services. Staff also said the council had directed reconsideration of the town’s third-party administrator (TPA) and that staff would propose about $100,000 of additional capital funding tied to that work.

On capital projects, staff said a recent culvert and drainage construction bid produced savings that staff may reallocate to contract out some swale and bank stabilization work so in‑house crews can focus on road-canal stabilization. Conversely, planning and engineering estimates for drainage improvements in the Tangerine and Citrus area showed an expected shortfall of about $87,000 compared with the original $50,000 planning allocation.

Fehrman urged committee members to review the notes to the financial statements along with the basic financials; he walked members to key pages including the auditors’ opinion, the governmental fund balance sheet and the notes on capital assets. Delilani said staff will “tick and tie” the interim reports to the final audited numbers when the audit is issued and deliver a condensed dashboard for committee review.

Committee chair Manish and staff agreed to reconvene in two weeks for a deeper review after members have had time to read the audit draft and the March 31 interim numbers. Staff said they will circulate the March 31 materials and the proposed three-page dashboard before the next meeting.