Get AI Briefings, Transcripts & Alerts on Local & National Government Meetings — Forever.
Washington State Auditor reports clean FY2024 opinion for Monroe; minor housekeeping items noted
Loading...
Summary
The Washington State Auditor presented Monroe’s FY2024 accountability and financial-statement audits, issuing a clean (unmodified) opinion on the regulatory basis of accounting and noting minor housekeeping exit items and financial-ratio flags tied to intentional COVID‑fund spending.
Representatives of the Washington State Auditor’s Office presented the city’s FY2024 audit exit results to the council on Jan. 27, concluding the accountability audit (covering Jan. 1, 2023–Dec. 31, 2024) and the FY2024 financial‑statement audit.
Courtney Amundson, audit manager for Team Everett, said the accountability work did not identify any significant compliance failures and that ‘‘the city has complied with all areas applicable to state laws, regulations, and policies,’’ language the auditors highlighted as an assurance to the council and the public. The auditors examined areas including accounts payable and utility billing, municipal‑court cash receipts, trust‑account activity, system user access, payroll practices (including police shift trades), treasury transactions, and open‑meetings compliance.
Auditor Erica Davies described Monroe’s financial‑health snapshot and said some ratios were flagged (orange or red) because the city intentionally spent some COVID funding in 2024; the auditors found that management provided appropriate explanations and did not recommend corrective action tied to that intentional spending. The office issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the regulatory basis of accounting used by the city and noted that staff did not prepare statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP (the audit included the required dual opinion language on GAAP presentation).
Auditors reported no corrected material misstatements, a few insignificant uncorrected items listed for management consideration in future periods, and no instances identified of management override of controls. They recommended documenting written procedures for some electronic‑payment change processes as a housekeeping/exit item to strengthen consistency and monitoring.
The auditors said the next audits are scheduled for fall and reminded the council that if the city spends more than $1,000,000 in federal funds in a fiscal year, a separate federal single‑audit would be triggered.
