Westminster auditors issue clean opinion on 2024 financial statements; new GASB standards noted

The City of Westminster received a clean audit opinion for its 2024 financial statements at a July 21 study session, where the city’s chief financial officer and the independent auditor summarized the audit scope, findings and accounting changes that affected the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR).

Carmen Jeffries, managing director for the city’s independent audit firm, reported that the audit resulted in an unmodified opinion, commonly called a clean opinion, and that auditors found no material weaknesses, significant deficiencies or control deficiencies in the financial reporting for the year ended Dec. 31, 2024.

“You the city, successfully have an unmodified opinion on the financials, which is a clean opinion,” Jeffries said during her presentation. Ezekiel Vasquez, Westminster’s chief financial officer, introduced the auditors and thanked city staff for completing the ACFR and audit work.

Jeffries and the audit team explained the audit’s scope—conducted in accordance with U.S. auditing standards and government auditing standards—and noted the firm performs sampling rather than examining every transaction. The discussion highlighted two new Governmental Accounting Standards Board statements implemented in 2024: GASB Statement 100 (accounting changes and error corrections) and GASB Statement 101 (compensated absences). Jeffries said GASB 101 changed reporting for compensated absences by requiring an assessment of expected sick-leave usage that can create a liability on financial statements.

Auditors reported one corrected journal entry: an adjustment to an accounts receivable balance that belonged to a prior period. They also noted a set of prior-period adjustments that affect comparative reporting; most were recorded appropriately, and one late adjustment related to certificates of participation reclassification did not change the bottom line. From the city’s federal award audit perspective, auditors tested the Community Development Block Grant and issued an unmodified opinion with no findings.

Jeffries said the audit covered approximately $1 million in grant spending in 2024 and that federal single-audit thresholds changed under updated uniform guidance (from $750,000 to $1,000,000), which may affect audit requirements if grant totals fluctuate.

Vasquez and councilors praised the finance team. Councilors asked for clarification about whether the city had ever had a finding; staff said no findings had been reported in recent years. The auditors also previewed forthcoming GASB standards, including changes to financial statement presentation and enhanced disclosures for investments and capital assets, and recommended early planning for those changes.

Next steps: Auditors and finance staff will continue working through GASB implementation tasks and will report any material planning items as those standards move toward effective dates.