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Council questions need for outside audit consulting; staff explains GASB changes and transparency work
Summary
Council members pressed staff on why the city hires outside audit consultants for annual financial statements. Staff explained changes to accounting standards, technical pension and OPEB entries, and said Crawford's provides necessary GAAP conversion and actuarial coordination. Council also discussed progress on financial-transparency software and staff said data are publicly posted but the city is evaluating user-friendly tools.
During review of consent and related items, a council member asked staff to explain why the city engages outside audit consulting for preparation of annual financial statements.
The finance staff explained that independence rules and changes from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board since about fiscal year 2014–15 mean auditors cannot perform significant preparer work and then audit their own work. Staff said pension and OPEB calculations require actuary inputs (the city uses OMRF for pensions) and that Crawford's provides the technical expertise to prepare GAAP-conformant financial statements for audit. "We utilize Crawford's because they're kind of set the industry standards," the finance staff said, describing the firm as a resource for GASB implementation guidance.
A council member asked whether the accounting software could generate the annual financial statements. Staff responded that transactional systems produce reports but do not generate government-wide GAAP financials, which require period-13 adjustments and other year-end GAAP entries. Staff emphasized these conversions and the depth of GASB changes as the rationale for contracted services.
Separately, council raised a citizen email requesting more accessible financial statements. Staff said the raw documents (audits, operating budgets, bond schedules and debt-service information) are posted on the city website, but acknowledged they are difficult for residents to navigate. Staff said research on a financial-transparency dashboard or software is ongoing but delayed by higher-priority audits and arbitration work; staff committed to pursuing a more user-friendly public interface in future reports.
The council did not take formal action on these items; the finance discussion was informational and intended to clarify why the city contracts for technical accounting support and how staff will pursue improved public access to financial data.
