Independent auditors give City of Rockwall a clean opinion on 2024 financials

Patillo, Brown & Hill presented the City of Rockwall’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2024, during the council meeting on March 17. Jacob Bowman, an audit supervisor, told the council the firm issued an unmodified opinion — the firm’s highest level of assurance — and reported no material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting.

The audit included a federal single‑audit review of major federal programs. The auditors examined the city’s SAFER grant (staffing for fire and emergency response) in depth and found no instances of noncompliance or questioned costs. The audit letter therefore contained no findings for internal control, financial reporting, or federal compliance.

Bowman highlighted reserve balances in the city’s major funds as of Sept. 30, 2024: the general fund had the equivalent of about 52.7% of one year of spending in unassigned fund balance and the utility fund had roughly 26% of a year’s operating expenses in reserves. He directed the council and the public to the ACFR’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis (pages 4–9) and statistical tables (for example, the 10‑year trends on page 86) for additional context about revenues, expenses and fund balance trends over the past decade.

City staff thanked the auditors and finance team for a “clean” audit and noted the work required to prepare the report.

The ACFR and formal audit opinion will be posted with the city’s financial documents; the auditors said they had provided a digital copy to council and staff.