City auditor gives Bullhead City a clean opinion; council accepts FY2024 report

Bullhead City Council on Feb. 4 accepted the city's audited annual financial report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, after an auditor from Baker Tilly presented the results in accordance with Arizona law.

Auditor Brian (Baker Tilly) told the council the firm issued its required reports on Jan. 14, 2025, and gave the financial statement a clean (unqualified) opinion. The auditor said there were no material weaknesses or significant internal-control deficiencies requiring disclosure. The auditor also reported no instances of noncompliance in tests of laws, grants, contracts or debt covenants and reported no findings in the federal single-audit testing.

Three federal grants required testing this year under the Uniform Guidance and received clean opinions: the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), formula grants for rural areas and tribal transit, and the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. The auditor reported the city spent about $8.5 million in federal funds during FY2024.

The auditor's presentation noted the general fund increased its fund balance by about $6.8 million, driven by higher tax and intergovernmental revenues and expenditures falling roughly $4.8 million below budget. Enterprise fund results were mixed: the water fund's charges exceeded expenses by about $2.2 million, increasing its net position, while the wastewater fund had operating expenses that exceeded charges by about $1.9 million and an overall decrease in equity of roughly $3.4 million for the year.

The auditor also presented the state-required expenditure limitation report; the city's total expenditures were below the limitation by $16.3 million for the year, the auditor said.

After the presentation no council questions were raised and the motion to accept the audit passed unanimously (7-0).