Corinth council accepts clean annual audit; prior-year developer contribution restated

The Corinth City Council on March 20 unanimously accepted the city’s annual comprehensive financial report and single-audit for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2024.

Kevin Randolph, senior partner at audit firm Eide Bailey, told the council the firm issued an unmodified ("clean") opinion on the financial statements and a clean single-audit for federal grant compliance. "We did issue an unmodified opinion this year," Randolph said, adding the firm found the statements were consistent with generally accepted accounting principles.

The audit included a restatement of prior-year amounts after the city identified developer contributions that should have been recorded in fiscal 2023. Randolph said the restated amount was approximately $4,200,000. He described a corrective action plan the city is taking, including adding staff oversight and scheduling quarterly meetings to ensure future contributions are recorded in the proper period.

The auditors summarized the city's cash and investment position: total cash citywide of about $24.6 million and total investments of about $34.1 million, including roughly $25.1 million in a state investment pool (Techstar) and about $9.0 million in U.S. government-backed securities. Randolph said the general fund’s unassigned fund balance equaled about 43% of expenditures, a level auditors described as healthy compared with a typical 25% benchmark.

Randolph also said the city exceeded the single-audit threshold for federal grant expenditures and that the primary federal program tested was the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program; auditors reported no compliance findings on grant controls or sampled transactions.

A city staff member moved to approve the report as presented; another councilmember seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Council members and auditors commended city finance staff for their preparation and responsiveness during the audit process.