Auditor gives Utica clean opinion but flags low reserves, large pension and retiree-health liabilities

Greg Evans, an auditor with the Adeo Group, presented the City of Utica's financial audit for the year ended March 31, 2024, to the Utica City Council, saying the auditors issued an unmodified ("clean") opinion and found no material weaknesses in the city's accounting records.

Evans said the audit showed a $5 million decrease in the city's statement of net position and highlighted two very large long-term liabilities: a net pension liability of about $46 million and other post-employment benefit (OPEB) liability of about $60 million. He said those actuarially determined numbers are long-term items that do not directly affect the city's operating budget but do drive the overall net position reported in the financial statements.

The audit reported $107 million in revenues and $105 million in expenditures for the fiscal year, producing roughly $1.1 million change in fund balance before transfers. Evans pointed to interfund transfers and debt transactions that affected year-end totals, and he noted that the general fund's unassigned…