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City audit returns a clean opinion but flags housing commission omission and control gaps
Summary
Auditors gave Benton Harbor an unmodified (clean) opinion for city operations but a component housing commission received an adverse opinion due to lack of a peer-reviewed audit. The report highlights positive net position and recommends stronger controls on credit-card use, timely federal reporting and formal agreements for a $100,000 cemetery perpetual-fund advance.
Auditors told the Benton Harbor City Commission on March 16 that the city’s financial statements for fiscal year 2025 received an unmodified, or “clean,” opinion but noted an adverse opinion for a component unit — the housing commission — because its audit lacked the required peer review.
“Your city received an unmodified opinion on its governmental and business-type activities,” auditor Peter Alman said, adding that the adverse component-unit opinion “is not because the city did anything wrong; it’s because the housing commission’s audit was excluded for lack of a peer review.”
The report included several financial highlights: total net position of $103.8 million and a year-over-year positive change in net position of $11.6 million; an unassigned general-fund balance of roughly $3,468,000 (about 32.8% of annual general-fund expenditures); and a positive net change in governmental…
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