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Commerce City receives clean 2024 audit; housing authority removed as component unit
Summary
Auditors issued an unmodified opinion on Commerce City—inancial statements for 2024, reporting increased net position and no federal single-audit findings; city staff and council discussed reserve policy and how the Commerce City Housing Authority no longer meets component-unit criteria.
Commerce City officials received a clean, or unmodified, opinion on the city—inancial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2024, the city—inance director said, and independent auditors reported no significant audit findings or disagreements with management.
The audit presentation by Plante Moran noted several positive trends in the city—inancials and highlighted that the city id not receive any audit findings on financial statements or on federal grant compliance. Auditor Bill Birkey said the firm issued an unmodified opinion, commonly called a clean audit report.
The auditor and finance staff told the council the city—losed 2024 with an increase in net position and a larger general-fund balance. The presentation said total net position rose in 2024 and that the general fund—und balance was about $108 million at year-end, with roughly $56.2 million unassigned and available for appropriation.
Council members pressed for clarity about which funds hold capital project money; finance staff said capital projects are recorded in a major capital expenditures fund and pointed council to the statement for that fund in the annual comprehensive financial report.
Auditors also reported two new Governmental Accounting Standards Board pronouncements the city implemented in 2024: GASB Statement No. 100 (accounting changes and error corrections) and GASB Statement No. 101 (compensated absences). Plante Moran said those implementations did not cause material changes in the year.
The audit team reviewed federal grants under the single-audit rules and tested two major programs: the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (about $754,000 of spending in 2024) and the Highway Planning and Construction program (about $2.2 million in 2024). The single-audit opinions were unmodified and the auditors reported no federal compliance findings.
The auditors noted a reporting change: the Commerce City Housing Authority, historically presented as a component unit in the city's financial statements, no longer met the financial-accounting criteria to be included after changes in financing and agreements. Staff said the housing authority will continue to have its own annual audit but will not be rolled up into the city's financial statements unless the relationship or agreements change.
Council members asked staff to bring back discussion of a formal unassigned fund-balance policy. Finance staff said the city does not currently have a fixed policy on the minimum unassigned fund balance and that the council could consider setting a formal target (staff said informally they have discussed keeping the unassigned fund balance around $30 million as a floor).
City staff said hard copies of the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report will be printed and distributed; an accessible electronic version is linked in the council packet and will be posted on the new city website when it launches.
Council members thanked the finance team and the auditors for the work and said they wanted the reserve-target conversation added to a future agenda.
