Bangor City audit gets unmodified opinion; auditors cite repeat bank-reconciliation weakness and multiple federal compliance issues

Bangor City’s Finance Committee reviewed the fiscal year 2024 audit at a special meeting on Sept. 22. Auditors reported an unmodified opinion on the city’s financial statements but flagged a repeat material weakness in bank and cash reconciliations and several federal-compliance findings affecting multiple grant programs.

The audit matters matter because weaknesses in cash reconciliations and grant compliance increase the risk of undetected errors and could affect federal reporting and reimbursements. Auditors said the city’s sizable federal spending — just shy of $30,000,000 in the year under review — made single-audit compliance testing a major part of their work.

Auditors summarized the drivers of the extended audit timetable and the primary findings. They said implementation of recent Governmental Accounting Standards Board pronouncements (GASB 96 for subscription-based IT arrangements and GASB 87 for leases) required the city to identify and record many contracts as assets and liabilities, adding substantial work. Auditors also said carryover issues from the FY2023 audit, staffing turnover in finance (including the deputy finance director), and a backlog of unreconciled accounts slowed progress.

“We did have a material weakness related to the cash account reconciliations, and that was a repeat,” said Jim, one of the auditors. The auditors…