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Harlingen receives clean audit opinion; finance department honored with GFOA awards
Summary
External auditors delivered an unmodified opinion on Harlingen’s annual comprehensive financial report for the year ended Sept. 30, 2024, and the city’s finance department received Government Finance Officers Association awards for budget presentation and excellence in financial reporting.
The Harlingen City Commission heard an auditor presentation and finance department recognition April 16 that confirmed the city’s financial reporting and budget practices. Alfred Veda, managing CPA for Costco’s and Associates PC, presented the annual comprehensive financial report for the year ended Sept. 30, 2024, and said the external audit yielded an unmodified (clean) opinion.
Veda summarized fund‑level figures: the general fund reported total assets of $2,195,000, total liabilities of $2,941,000, deferred inflows of $1,115,000 and total fund balance of $38,139,000, with $36,558,000 unassigned. Using the city’s total expenditures of $62,953,000, Veda calculated that Harlingen’s unassigned fund balance covers an estimated 212 days of operations, well above the typical 60–90 day recommendation for municipal rainy‑day reserves.
Robert Rodriguez of the finance department announced the city earned a Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) — noting a 35‑year run in receiving the award for the budget — and a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2023; Rodriguez stated the reporting award has been received for 45 years. The city’s external auditors also reported no findings in their independent auditors’ report on internal control and compliance and issued an unmodified single‑audit opinion for major federal programs.
Commissioners praised the finance team for transparency and stewardship. Auditor Veda noted the team’s work and said reasonable assurance is provided through audit sampling. The commission and staff emphasized the awards and clean audit as evidence of fiscal health and good stewardship of public funds.
The auditor and finance staff encouraged the public and commissioners to review the statistics and management discussion and analysis sections of the report for additional context. The auditor invited questions and concluded with no findings reported for internal controls and compliance under the Government Auditing Standards.
Staff and commissioners said they will continue to submit the budget and financial reports to maintain GFOA recognition in future years.
