Dyersburg audit: independent auditors give city an unqualified opinion; grants and cash balances rise

Katie Laurel, an auditor filling in for Chloe, told the City of Dyersburg Board on March 4, 2025, that the independent audit for the fiscal year received an unqualified opinion and showed a net position of about $137 million for the combined city funds, electric system and schools.

Laurel said the audit covers the city, the electric system and the city schools and that the independent auditors issued “an unqualified opinion, which is what you want.” She told the board the funds reported as unrestricted were roughly $23 million and that total cash and investments reported in the financial statements were about $58 million combined (approximately $47 million in cash and nearly $11 million in investments).

The auditor said governmental funds reported a combined ending fund balance of about $28 million and that the city’s overall net position increased by roughly $5.7 million for the year after accounting for gains in governmental activities and a decline in business-type activities.

Laurel highlighted a year-over-year increase in federal and state expenditures, driven largely by state revolving funds tied to the Clean Water Program and other grant awards. She said the schedule of federal expenditures shown in the report totaled about $6.6 million for the city (excluding electric system and schools) and that combined federal and state grant expenditures for the city were about $8.3 million for the fiscal year.

On debt and pensions, Laurel said notes payable net decreased by about $1.9 million during the year, and the report includes schedules showing long-term debt changes and future payment requirements for each note. She also said required pension contributions for the city were met for 2024 and pointed the board to pages of the report with pension schedules and other post-employment benefit disclosures.

Laurel told the board the schedule of findings showed no findings for the year and no repeat findings from the prior year, calling that “excellent news.” She noted one editorial correction in the printed copy on internal control language that had been fixed prior to issuing the draft and said she would ensure the final report reflected the correction.

In a section of management recommendations, Laurel advised the city to document grant files consistently (signed contracts, amendments, reimbursement requests and invoices), to ensure approvals on invoices to strengthen internal control and to reconcile reimbursements on the Clean Water State Revolving Funds when minor discrepancies occur. She also recommended occasional checks of personnel files to ensure required documents (employee ID or social security documentation) are present.

Alderman Edward Birch and other board members thanked Laurel and city staff for the work to complete the audit. Laurel and the board members praised city staff — including Scott and Tiffany, who Laurel said were responsive during the audit — for managing the increased volume of grant-related record keeping.

Board members asked several clarifying questions during the presentation; Laurel and staff answered them and said they would provide the management letter and any corrected pages to the board.

The board did not take formal action on the audit presentation at the meeting; the presentation served as the annual auditor report to the board.