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City auditor reports strong 2024 results; New Richmond receives clean opinion
Summary
Baker Tilly audit manager presented the 2024 financial audit to the New Richmond City Council, reporting a clean (unmodified) opinion, a roughly $1.8 million increase in general fund balance and a 57.9% reserve ratio.
Amanda Emboga, the audit manager presenting results for Baker Tilly, told the New Richmond City Council that the city’s 2024 financial statements received an unmodified ("clean") opinion.
Emboga said revenues and other financing sources for 2024 totaled about $10.8 million and expenditures and other financing uses totaled about $9.0 million, producing an approximate $1.8 million positive change in the general fund balance for the year. She highlighted transfers in of about $666,000 (largely capital and capital-replacement transfers) and a roughly $114,000 contribution to the general fund from the closing of tax-increment financing district No. 6.
"The city did receive an unmodified or what we sometimes call a clean opinion," Emboga said, describing the auditor’s responsibility and the limits of "reasonable assurance" in the audit process.
Emboga also noted investment income outperformed the budget, producing about a $307,000 positive variance, and that leisure activities (parks and library) had a combined favorable variance of about $154,000. She said the city’s unrestricted fund balance equaled 57.9% of revenues for 2024, which she described as a strong position compared with peers and above the Government Finance Officers Association minimum benchmarks plotted in the audit slides.
A council member who spoke during the presentation recalled that the council adopted an internal fund balance policy in 2022 that references Moody’s guidance; the council later increased a minimum guideline from 50% to 60% following consultation with Moody’s. Audit staff said the city remains in a good position but has not yet met all internal targets under that policy.
On debt, auditors showed the legal general obligation debt limit under state statute (5% of equalized value) in contrast with the city’s outstanding GO debt. As of the 2024 results presented, the city was using about 29% of that legal capacity. Auditors also noted approximately $9.2 million of debt is recorded in utility funds and about $5.0 million of utility revenue debt not subject to the statutory GO limit.
Audit staff thanked city staff for their preparation. The presentation covered government funds; the auditors said utility fund results would be presented separately to the utility commission.
