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Independent auditor gives Town of Tazewell an unmodified opinion; recommends reconciliations
Summary
The town’s FY2025 audit returned an unmodified opinion. The auditor highlighted a healthy general fund balance and enterprise position, recommended monthly water-reconciliation procedures and stricter credit-card documentation, and identified a GASB implementation that changed prior-year reporting.
Tazewell — The town’s independent auditor presented the FY2025 audit to the council and gave an unmodified opinion, indicating the auditors believe the financial statements are materially correct.
Diane Evelyn, the auditor presenting the report, told the council the town’s general fund balance at fiscal year-end 2025 was about "$4,500,000," the water enterprise net position was presented as "$6,400,000," and the presentation noted one-time ARPA/ARCA receipts in a prior period (around "$4,200,000"). Evelyn said cash and investments shown in the presentation were positive and that, overall, the town was in a healthy financial position.
The auditor made several recommendations to strengthen internal control and reporting: complete and document a monthly water-reconciliation process to ensure billed vs. collected amounts reconcile to recorded outstanding receivables; and improve credit-card documentation (include more detailed receipts showing specific purchases). She also explained that new GASB guidance on compensated absences required the auditors to restate last year’s financial statements and led to a material adjustment in reporting.
Council members asked for guidance on an appropriate emergency-fund target. The auditor and staff suggested that for smaller municipalities a reserve target closer to 25% of annual expenditures is reasonable, with a rough healthy minimum of about $2,000,000 cited in the presentation as a reference point.
What happens next: The council accepted the presentation. Staff were asked to continue monthly reconciliations and to tighten credit-card purchase documentation going forward.
