Overland Park posts clean external audit; 2024 net position rises $39.5 million

Overland Park officials presented the city’s 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and related audit Tuesday, and RubinBrown LLP issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the financial statements.

The city’s combined governmental fund balance increased about $31.2 million to $288.6 million in 2024, while the unassigned general fund balance rose to about $113.4 million, up roughly $14.0 million from 2023. City staff said sales and property taxes remain the largest revenue sources, with sales tax at roughly 41% of governmental revenues and property tax about 22%.

“The objective of a financial statement audit is to provide reasonable assurance that the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement,” Jessica Schmitz, audit manager at RubinBrown, said during the meeting. “For this audit we issued an unmodified or clean opinion, that's the highest level of opinion that we issue.”

Why it matters: the audited statements translate government accounting into measures more comparable with the private sector. Overland Park’s government-wide net position for governmental activities increased by $39.5 million in 2024; total net position reported in the ACFR is $1.24 billion, a 5.5% increase. City staff emphasized the capital-asset growth reflected in the change: capital assets increased by $17.6 million.

Key figures and context reported at the meeting: - Combined governmental fund balance (2024): ~$288,600,000 (increase of ~$31,200,000 vs. 2023). - Unassigned general fund balance (2024): ~$113,400,000 (increase of ~$14,000,000 vs. 2023). - Total governmental fund revenues (2024): ~$387,000,000 (approx. 13% increase year over year). - Total governmental fund expenses (2024): ~$342,000,000 (approx. 19% increase year over year). - Total net position (2024): ~$1,240,000,000 (5.5% increase). - Outstanding general obligation debt (2024): about $90,000,000 (an 11% decrease from 2023). - Special obligation debt reported: $127,600,000 (city reported no legal obligation for debt service on that special obligation debt). - Reported value of capital assets (2024): ~$11,194,000,000, with infrastructure accounting for over 80% of that amount.

RubinBrown also reported completion of the single-audit testing required for federal awards; auditors tested the American Rescue Plan-related COVID-19 State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund and reported no findings in their tested program.

Audit technical notes and accounting standards: the city implemented GASB Statement No. 101 (related to compensated absences) in 2024; RubinBrown noted the city’s prior recording of sick-leave liabilities meant the new standard had no material impact on the audited statements but was disclosed in the audit report (an emphasis-of-matter paragraph and note 1c).

What officials said about reserves and debt: staff reminded committee members that figures in the ACFR reflect government-wide conversions and fund-rollups that do not match the budgetary measures used in day-to-day budgeting. That structural difference helps explain the large aggregate reserve movement in the audited statements. Staff also said general obligation bond levels are expected to rise in coming years based on the city’s five-year financial plan to fund capital projects, while some projects (for example, a new city hall remodel) are being paid from cash/reserves or may be bonded later.

Documents: staff noted full copies of the ACFR and auditor communications are available online and in the meeting packet. The Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR), prepared under GFOA guidance as a simplified summary of the ACFR, was also distributed to committee members.

Ending: auditors and staff closed the presentation by inviting committee questions; committee members raised reserve-comparison and debt-planning questions and thanked staff for the work producing a clean audit and the PAFR.