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Hammond audit: city financial statements receive clean opinion but auditors flag two significant deficiencies
Summary
External auditors gave Hammond an unmodified opinion on its financial statements but reported two significant deficiencies tied to staff turnover and building-permit software access; city staff plan training and provided quarterly reports to the council.
Michelle, the audit presenter, told the Hammond City Council on April 22 that the city's audited financial statements received an unmodified (clean) opinion but the auditors identified two significant deficiencies.
The first deficiency, Michelle said, stemmed from turnover among key finance personnel and meant internal controls over financial reporting "were not operating as designed." The second involved the city's new building-permit software: the third-party setup did not properly limit access for unauthorized users, she said.
Those problems did not change the auditors' opinion on the financial statements, Michelle said, and the audit was submitted to the Legislative Auditor and the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.
Why this matters: weaknesses in controls and in permit-system access can increase the risk of errors in the city's accounting or of inappropriate access to permitting records. The council and city staff…
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