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Audit committee receives clean audit for FY2023–24; one compliance finding on aquatic center budget
Summary
City auditors issued an unmodified opinion on North Ogden—s FY2023—6 fiscal statements but identified one state-compliance finding that expenditures in the aquatic center special revenue fund exceeded the approved budget. Committee approved minutes from Sept. 12 and later adjourned.
North Ogden—s audit committee on Jan. 9 received a clean audit opinion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, while auditors flagged one state-compliance issue tied to the aquatic center budget.
The committee heard from Ronald (Ron) (lead auditor) of the audit firm, who told members the auditors—opinion is unmodified——commonly called a clean opinion. "The financial statements referred to above present fairly in all material respects ... for the year then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in The United States Of America," Ron said.
The nut of the report: auditors found the financial statements materially correct and internal controls generally effective, and they reported no findings from the single-audit testing of federal ARPA spending. "We feel like you are in compliance with the single audit act and uniform guidance," Ron said.
Why it matters: an unmodified opinion means the auditors found the city—s reported assets, liabilities and changes in net position to be reliable for decision-makers and creditors. At the same time, the committee must address a state-required compliance issue. Ron said auditors performed state-prescribed procedures and found one instance where expenditures in the aquatic center special revenue fund exceeded the legally adopted budget.
Jamie Jones, North Ogden finance director, explained the aquatic center exceeded budgeted expenditures by roughly $94,000 for the year and that the city later amended the budget by about $65,000 to cover a portion of the overrun. Jones attributed some of the spending to rapid, "fast-moving" operational needs such as chemicals and refurbishment at the facility.
The audit presentation also described fund-balance changes: city-wide unassigned general fund balance fell in FY2023—24, dropping about 3.8 percentage points (from roughly 31% to 28%), primarily because of expenditures related to the new public safety building. Jones said the overall year-end position remains "pretty strong" despite that decrease.
Auditors noted enterprise (business-type) funds, principally water, sewer and stormwater, do not always recover full costs through charges for services; grants and general revenues supplement those funds. The water fund showed a comparatively positive net position, helped by grants and one-time ARPA funds used this year.
Votes at a glance - Motion to approve minutes for Sept. 12: Moved by Committee Member Randy; second by Committee Member Severy; committee voice vote recorded as "aye" and the minutes were approved. - Motion to adjourn: Moved by the mayor; committee moved to adjourn at the close of the meeting.
The audit packet included long-term debt notes and bond schedules. Committee members reviewed the sales-tax revenue bond (Series 2021) tranche rates and discussed how investment yields versus borrowing rates affected the city treasury in FY2024. Jones and other staff said warranty walkthroughs of the new safety building have begun and that only minor warranty items remain.
Committee Chair and members thanked Jones and city staff for responding to audit requests. Ron thanked the finance team for timely documentation and signalled no additional audit deliverables were outstanding. The committee did not take separate formal action on the auditor—s written report; the exchange was a review and discussion.
