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Auditor issues clean opinion for Essex Junction’s 2024 fiscal year; ARPA recognition inflated general fund surplus
Summary
External auditor Bill Kaiser presented the FY2024 audit, reporting an unmodified (clean) opinion, no material adjustments, no findings on ARPA in the single-audit testing, and a general fund assigned balance for Lincoln Street renovations.
The city’s external auditor told the Essex Junction City Council on March 12 that the June 30, 2024 audit received an unmodified opinion and that auditors identified no material adjustments or internal control findings.
Bill Kaiser, shareholder consultant, said the audit work was completed in late January and that the federal single-audit requirement applied again because federal expenditures exceeded $750,000. “For June 30, we issued a unmodified opinion,” Kaiser said. “It was a clean audit, overall. There are no material adjustments that we had to make or propose, to management.”
Kaiser said ARPA funds were treated as lost revenue replacement and therefore were allowable to be used for payroll; recognizing those ARPA revenues caused a large general-fund surplus for 2024 that the city assigned to the planned Lincoln Street renovations. He summarized key figures from the audit report: total cash balances of about $13.5 million; a general fund balance of just over $5,000,000 with $865,000 unassigned; an assigned amount of approximately $2.9 million and a committed local options tax balance of about $1,058,000. A reserve for delinquent taxes (required 60 days after year end) increased to $119,000 from the prior year.
Kaiser said single-audit testing focused on ARPA as the major federal program this year and found no findings or questioned costs for ARPA. He noted that the capital projects fund showed about $1,260,000 in deferred grant revenue at year end tied to DOT reimbursements; those revenues are expected to reverse into capital revenue when billed and collected.
Finance Director Jess Morris was present for the presentation. Councilors praised finance staff and asked whether auditors provide best-practice suggestions; Kaiser said auditors share recommendations and noted the team already had a key-control document that management prepared and used during the audit.
No formal council action was required; the audit presentation concluded with council thanks to staff and the auditor.
