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Council presses finance for March actuals as part of FY26 debate; CFO says audits near completion
Summary
Council members demanded department-level actual expenditure reports through March 31, 2025, before approving FY26 allocations; CFO Miss Logan said draft actuals will be circulated and that the finance office has been cleaning up multi-year accounting issues.
Council members pressed finance staff for a cross-department accounting of actual spending before the council votes on FY26 allocations.
At the meeting CFO Miss Logan said finance will run and circulate actual expenditure reports as of March 31, 2025, and that the city's accounting systems have been cleaned up after earlier years of incomplete records. "Our goal for the next report is to provide an actual expenditure report for FY '25 as of March 31," Logan said, adding that prior accounting system problems required significant cleanup and journal entries.
Council members said that absence of departmental actuals hampered decisions. Councilwoman Scott urged line-item detail: "I want to see the before, and then I want to see what they're asking." Councilmember Kearney and others told finance they need the data to decide where to cut or move funds.
Logan and city staff explained differences between previous systems and current QuickBooks usage, and noted that an enterprise budget-management solution is being considered to produce automated comparative reports going forward. The CFO also confirmed the city received ARPA obligations in December and that related amendments were approved by council April 7; finance staff will show how those obligations appear in FY25 numbers.
The council also discussed the city's outstanding audits. Miss Logan said the city completed the FY2023 audit and is actively working through FY2024 reconciliations; auditors expect FY2024 and 2025 to be brought current before year end if reconciliations hold. She and councilmembers repeatedly emphasized that improved monthly reconciliations and department reports are a priority to help the council manage appropriations and to avoid surprises during the year.
Council direction: finance will circulate March 31 actuals and a list of pending budget amendments (including ARPA obligations) before the next virtual budget-review meeting.
