External auditor gives Huntington City a clean opinion; perpetual care shows a deficit

Huntington City’s external auditor presented the fiscal year 2024–25 audit and said the financial statements "fairly in all material respects" reflected the city’s financial position, an opinion auditors characterize as unqualified or clean. Council members had no reportable compliance concerns and the meeting concluded with a motion to adjourn.

The presentation, delivered by Doug (auditor, firm identified in the transcript as "Smoo"), opened with a summary of the independent auditor’s opinion for the year ended 06/30/2025. Doug said the audit found that the governmental activities, business-type activities, each major fund (none of the city's other governmental funds met major-fund criteria), and aggregate remaining fund information presented fairly in all material respects. "That's an unqualified or a clean opinion," he said.

The report reviewed fund-by-fund results. The general fund showed assigned and unassigned balances within the city's 35% unassigned-balance guideline; specific items cited included restricted Class C road funds (~$433,000), assigned balances for youth council (~$1,009.10) and heritage days (~$8,008.76), and approximately $154,000 in unassigned fund balance. Doug stated the overall general fund activity produced a positive change in fund balance for the year.

The auditors read transfers and fund movements recorded in the report: transfers in totaling roughly $98,000 and transfers out in the $54,000 range, including amounts moved from the perpetual care fund into capital projects. Per the audit, perpetual care ran a deficit of $42,005.40 for the year; capital projects showed an increase of nearly $21,000 and the MBA fund increased by $4,007.23.

Utility and secondary water system activity were presented as positive. The utility fund had reported net operating income of $31,002.90 and interest earnings near $23,000, for a net increase in position of about $54,001.94. The secondary water system reported roughly $61,003 in revenue, $30,001.74 in expenses, net income near $31,001.29 and interest of about $28,000, for a net increase of about $59,002.76. Doug also highlighted cash-basis increases: about $69,007.57 added to the utility cash position and a little over $59,000 to the secondary water system.

On compliance testing, the auditors reported that they tested eight state compliance items and concluded Huntington City "complied in all material respects" with the state requirements for the year ended 06/30/2025. On the federal side under government auditing standards, Doug said their tests "disclosed no instances of noncompliance or other matters" required to be reported. He noted a 2024 budget-related deficiency remains noted in the report for continuity but said the issue has been corrected for 2025 and will not reappear in the next audit year.

During discussion, council members and attendees thanked the audit team and said the report clarified numbers for them. Doug emphasized the auditors' role as reviewers and advisers and encouraged the council to call the audit office with follow-up questions. A brief exchange referenced prior internal issues discovered in a focused review (Doug said that a prior individual had taken funds and that the full-transaction review identified the extent), which Doug presented as the reason the report contains language acknowledging that auditors sample transactions rather than test every entry.

A council member moved to adjourn; the motion was seconded (recorded as seconded by Lisa Miller in the minutes). A voice vote followed with affirmative responses recorded and the meeting was adjourned. The council did not take other formal actions during this session.

Next steps: the audit is on record for FY 2024–25; staff and auditors remain available for follow-up questions and any clarification requests.