City auditor: Corinne's 2024 financial statements free of material misstatement; fraud-risk score strong

Matt Regan, the city's contracted auditor, told the Corinne City Council at its regular meeting that the audited 2024 financial statements are free of material misstatement and that the city is in compliance with state reporting requirements.

Regan said the audit package includes three reports: an opinion on the accuracy of the financial statements, an internal-control report, and a state-compliance report. "The financial statements are free of material misstatements," he said, noting auditors do not test every transaction but examine a representative sample to form an opinion.

Regan reviewed key budget figures for the city's general fund: the budget projected $1,027,300 in revenues and actual collections were $1,033,829; the council budgeted $1,079,750 in expenditures and actual spending was $1,046,307, about $30,000 under budget. He told the council the general fund balance was about half of the state's maximum accumulation limit for the year.

On impact fees and utilities, Regan said some impact-fee accounts showed little or no carryover because prior expenditures were charged against those fees. He summarized capital spending and depreciation, saying the city spent just over $300,000 on utilities, building renovations and equipment during the fiscal year.

Regan also reported on debt: during the last fiscal year the city paid approximately $79,000 toward water-bond principal and has "about $1.5 million" remaining on that bond with an interest rate around 1.8 percent; interest expense last year was roughly $37,000. He said the city paid about $19,000 on another bond that carries about a 2.85 percent rate.

The auditor circulated a fraud-risk assessment prepared by the state auditor's office and said Corinne scored about 315 out of a possible 395 points, placing it in a low-to-moderate risk range. Regan identified four items (worth roughly 80 points) the city does not yet have and suggested simple remedies such as a reported hotline or brief training modules available on the state auditor's website.

"An accountant is someone who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data provided by those of questionable knowledge," Regan quipped during his presentation, adding the audits and annual reports are intended to provide reasonable assurance to the public and the state that the city's records are accurate within material amounts.

The auditor offered to assist outside the annual visit if staff need help with grant applications or other projects during the year.