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Oak Park audit shows clean opinion but flags internal control gaps and staffing delays
Summary
Auditors issued a clean (unmodified) opinion on the village’s 2024 financial statements but identified two material weaknesses/significant deficiencies and noted the audit closed late in part due to staffing shortages; auditors cited ~38 adjusting entries and said federal grants (~$13.9M, ARPA ~$10.8M) triggered single‑audit reporting.
Auditors for the Village of Oak Park told the board Jan. 27 that the fiscal‑year 2024 financial statements received an unmodified (clean) opinion, but the audit identified internal control deficiencies that management must address and noted a delayed completion tied largely to staffing and data‑availability challenges.
Tom Sawicki, director with the audit firm Sikich, presented a high‑level review of the 12/31/2024 audit. "We've issued what we call an unmodified or clean opinion," Sawicki said, but he also listed two significant deficiencies/material weaknesses and described required corrective action plans included in the audit report. Because the village expended more than $750,000 in federal awards in 2024, Sikich performed a single audit; Sawicki said the village had about $13.9 million in federal and state grant awards and that ARPA was the major federal program at about $10.8 million.
Trustees pressed auditors and finance staff on the timing. Sawicki and village staff said the primary cause of the delayed closeout was staffing: incomplete documentation at the start of scheduled field work made it difficult for auditors to complete the final stages on the planned schedule. "The short answer has been it's staffing," said the village manager during the discussion. Sawicki added that, as audits slip past designated field‑work windows, scheduling auditors later adds complexity and time.
The audit included about 38 adjusting journal entries, some proposed by auditors and some prepared internally after additional review. Sawicki said the village’s unassigned general fund balance was about $45 million (roughly 67% of operating expenditures) and the general fund ended 2024 at approximately $49.7 million after net transfers.
Trustees and staff discussed next steps: management has prepared corrective action plans for the control weaknesses and staff said they will bring a package to the finance committee and the full board this spring to address staffing, system upgrades and process changes intended to prevent similar delays. Auditors also noted potential additional billable hours tied to out‑of‑scope accounting work the firm performed to post adjustments; that billing was under discussion.
