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City audit: clean opinion for fiscal 2025; utilities and telecom funds in healthy positions
Summary
Auditor Tom Eldridge reported a clean 2025 audit with no material misstatements and highlighted fund performance: general fund revenues led by property taxes ($5.3M), PILOT utility contributions ($3.7M), and state shared revenue ($1.6M); telecom fiber customers and net position improved.
The city received a clean audit opinion for fiscal 2025, the auditor reported to the Board of Public Utilities, and staff highlighted the utilities’ relative financial strength heading into the 2027 budget cycle.
Tom Eldridge, presenting the annual audit, said auditors encountered no difficulties and found no material misstatements or disagreements with management. “The financial statements present fairly the financial position of the city as of and for the year ended 06/30/2025,” he said.
Eldridge noted the general fund’s largest revenue sources are property taxes (about $5.3 million), PILOT contributions from utility enterprise funds (about $3.7 million), and state shared revenue (about $1.6 million), which together account for roughly 70% of general fund revenue. Interest revenue and state reimbursements for industrial personal property taxes have bolstered recent results, but Eldridge cautioned that those sources could decline in future years.
On utilities, electric sales revenue rose by about 5% in 2025, with residential usage up roughly 4%. The electric fund’s net position increased by about $4.6 million, supported in part by non‑operating items including interest earnings and contractual revenues. Telecom showed strong growth: fiber internet sales were up about 20% in 2025; the utility reported roughly 1,800 fiber customers in November versus about 1,550 at the start of the fiscal year.
Water and wastewater funds also reported revenue gains. Water sales rose roughly 8% from 2024, and wastewater sales increased about 6.2% from 2024. Eldridge described planned capital spending in the 2026–2030 forecast at about $14.5 million and cited preliminary wastewater expansion costs, with phase 1 construction and contracted engineering estimated at about $2.5 million and phase 2 design near $1.5 million.
Board members asked about audit timing and staff effort; Eldridge said the audit schedule was condensed but manageable and offered to arrange a future presentation by external auditor Paul Plante. The board expressed approval of the telecom fund’s improved position and plans for reinvestment in capital.
The audit reports and management’s discussion and analysis are available in the full audit packet for members and the public to review.
