City auditors issue clean opinion on fiscal 2024 comprehensive financial report

Forbus Mazars auditors told the Beatrice City Council on Feb. 17 that they issued an unmodified (clean) audit opinion on the city’s financial statements for the year ended Sept. 30, 2024.

The finding matters because an unmodified opinion means the auditors did not take exception to the amounts or disclosures in the city’s annual comprehensive financial report (ACFR), providing governance and the public assurance on the city’s fiscal statements.

Abby Dobson, audit director with Forbus Mazars, opened the presentation and said the audit “did issue a clean or an unmodified audit opinion.” Dobson and audit associate Alyssa Saboren summarized the firm’s procedures, noting they performed on-site testing in November and December and audited in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, Government Auditing Standards and the Uniform Guidance because of the city’s federal awards.

Dobson walked council members through items she said deserve governance attention: accounting policies (footnote A), areas of subjectivity such as the allowance for uncollectible accounts, depreciable lives of capital assets, claims incurred but not reported for the city health plan, accrued closure and post-closure landfill costs, and unbilled or accrued revenues. She also noted the Beatrice Public Library Foundation is included as a component unit in the ACFR but audited separately by another firm.

The auditors reported no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal control and no material noncompliance related to federal awards. Dobson said there were no auditor-proposed and recorded journal entries and only a small schedule of uncorrected items that management deemed immaterial.

The audit communication letter included a forward-looking note about upcoming GASB changes; Dobson flagged GASB Statement 101 (compensated absences) as an upcoming standard that will affect reporting for the year ending Sept. 30, 2025.

Council members asked for clarification on pages with statistical schedules and long-term trends. Tobias (city staff) and other council members discussed decade-long increases in expenditures and changes in property valuations, and Tobias pointed out a roughly $580,000 CDBG grant and about $600,000 in economic development expenses that contributed to higher general government spending in 2024.

Dobson thanked city staff—particularly Hannah—for cooperation during the process and offered follow-up assistance. The council took no formal action beyond receiving the report.

The ACFR and the audit communication letter will be available on the city’s website.