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Independent audit: Washington City receives clean opinion for FY2024; ARPA single-audit shows no findings
Summary
Hinton Burdick auditor Chad Atkinson told the council on Feb. 12 the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024 financial statements received an unmodified (clean) opinion, with no reportable internal-control deficiencies and no federal single-audit findings related to ARPA funding.
Chad Atkinson of audit firm Hinton Burdick presented Washington City’s audited financial statements for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, to the City Council on Feb. 12 and reported an unmodified (clean) opinion with no reportable internal control weaknesses or state‑compliance findings.
"We issued an unmodified or clean opinion on the financial statements," Atkinson told the council, and he said the governance letter and auditor communications contained only standard items. Atkinson also reported the city’s federal single-audit for ARPA funds contained no findings that will be reported to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.
Atkinson highlighted financial trends and fund reserves across city funds. He said property tax revenue rose slightly (reported as about $5.3 million in 2023 to about $5.4 million in 2024) and sales tax grew from about $12.7 million to about $13.0 million. Several utility and enterprise funds showed reserve increases:
- Water Fund: unrestricted net position increased from roughly $9.0 million to about $14.2 million, equivalent to roughly 17 months of reserves at year‑end 2024. - Sewer Fund: operating results were generally consistent year over year; months of reserves on hand were reported at about 23 months. - Electric Fund: income or loss before transfers moved from a negative roughly $265,990 to a positive roughly $6,086,321, improving months of reserves from about six to about 11 months. - Storm Drain Fund: months of reserves increased from about seven to about 15 months.
Atkinson said the city’s finance office demonstrated effective internal controls and thanked staff for cooperation during the audit. Council members and the mayor commended Finance Department staff, naming Brian Pepper and others for their work producing what the mayor described as a "clean and boring" audit — the phrasing intended as praise for an audit without findings.
No formal vote was required for the presentation, which the council received. Atkinson invited follow‑up questions and offered to provide more detailed schedules to council members who requested them.
