Auditors give Lewiston an unmodified opinion on 2024 financial report; no control findings or fraud identified

Donna Alberti, the audit partner from Fresno Gage, told the Lewiston City Council on Feb. 20 that the firm issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the city—s annual comprehensive financial report for the year ended Sept. 30, 2024. "The answer is yes," Alberti said when asked whether the financial statements represent what really happened in the city's finances for the year.

The audit presentation summarized key figures in the report handed to council members: the city—s cash and investments were reported at $881,000,000; total capital assets (net of accumulated depreciation) at $237,000,000; governmental activities net position and business-type activities split with government activities showing a loss and business activities a gain for a net change of about $10,900,000. Alberti said the auditors also reported a net pension asset of roughly $17,900,000 related to police and fire retirement plans and that no funds ended the year with a negative balance.

The auditors reviewed long-term liabilities and program-specific loans. Alberti summarized the wastewater bond balance at about $26,500,000 as of Sept. 30, 2024, with $1.7 million of principal paid during the year and $352,000 in interest. The water loan principal drawn was reported at approximately $41,700,000, with a balance near $40,000,770 after principal forgiveness; Alberti said the first scheduled payment was made in October 2024 and that both loans will follow their amortization schedules going forward.

Alberti said the audit included the Urban Renewal Agency as a component unit and noted that the city recorded transfers during the year related to a newly established stormwater business-type fund: the stormwater system was recorded at about $9,000,000 (net of depreciation) and roughly $9,500,000 was transferred into the stormwater fund from other city funds to reflect those assets and held funds.

On the city—s liquidity, Alberti said governmental funds had a combined carryover of about $34,000,000, with $10,000,000 of that shown as unassigned and available in the general fund. She said no fund exceeded its budget during the year and that the airport funds included $2,200,000 in capital additions during the fiscal year.

Alberti described the auditors— responsibilities and limitations: the audit provides reasonable — not absolute — assurance and is based on sampling and risk-focused testing. She told the council the audit identified a small number of journal-entry adjustments (period 13 adjustments) but none were significant enough to affect business decisions. "We did not become aware of any fraud or legal acts during our audit process," Alberti said. She also reported no disagreements with management and no reportable internal-control deficiencies.

The presentation covered the single-audit (federal awards) requirements as well. Alberti noted that the federal Single Audit threshold is rising from $750,000 to $1,000,000 in the coming year; Lewiston exceeded the threshold in 2024 because of sizable federal drawdowns (including drinking water and community development grants) and therefore had to audit certain major programs this cycle.

Council members asked clarifying questions during and after the presentation. Councilor Wright asked how asset sales and depreciation affect reported results; Alberti explained that capital assets are reported at historical cost less accumulated depreciation, and sales generate a gain or loss based on book value at the time of sale. Other councilors asked about days-of-service / fund liquidity metrics and the golf course fund reclassification; staff responded that the golf operation had been moved into the general fund recreation line and that an annual update to council is planned.

Alberti closed by thanking city finance staff for their cooperation and said auditors would return to the council—s regular meeting to request formal acceptance of the report. "If anything comes up anytime of the year, you're going to always reach out to me," she said.

No formal motions or votes on the audit were recorded in the transcript of the special meeting.