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External auditors give Augusta a clean 2024 opinion, flag ERAP controls and late filing
Summary
Malden & Jenkins presented the FY2024 audit to commissioners, issuing a clean/unmodified opinion while reporting two findings — weaknesses in ERAP administration and a timeliness finding — and recommending an operational assessment; the audit’s submission to the state restores eligibility for state grant funds.
Malden & Jenkins partner David Erwin told the Augusta governing body the firm is issuing an unmodified (clean) opinion on the city’s FY2024 financial statements and single audit, and that the completed audit has been submitted to the state, restoring eligibility for state grant funds.
Erwin reviewed key financial highlights: government-wide assets and deferred outflows of about $2.7 billion, of which roughly $1.6 billion was capital assets; total revenues of about $670 million (an $80 million increase from FY2023) and total expenses of $591 million (a $77 million increase), producing an ending net position near $1.4 billion. On the general-fund side, the auditor reported general-fund revenues of about $203.9 million and expenditures just under $226 million, resulting in a fund-balance decrease of approximately $16.7 million and an unassigned fund balance of roughly $38.4 million (about 62 days of operating expenditures, under the government’s 120–150 day policy target).
Erwin said the audit opinion was clean but identified two findings. The first relates to administration and financial management of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP): auditors found weaknesses in how ERAP funds were tracked, reconciled and reported. The firm noted an independent third-party assessment of the ERAP program and reported that management has begun implementing corrective actions, including strengthened grant-management procedures, improved reconciliations and additional staff training. The second finding concerns timeliness: Georgia law requires audits be completed within six months after year-end; the city’s 2024 audit was not completed within that timeframe, and the delay was attributed in part to the September hurricane and staffing turnover.
Erwin also summarized management-letter comments and nonbinding recommendations aimed at improving operations and internal controls, including timely vendor payments, reconciliations, asset tracking and capital-project accounting. He recommended the governing body consider an independent operational assessment to review organizational structure, staffing and business processes; Administrator Allen told commissioners a draft RFP for such an assessment will go to procurement within two weeks.
Commissioners asked whether the carryovers and re-appropriations would affect the FY2027 budget; staff said the items discussed are one-time allocations for 2026 and do not change the FY2027 baseline. When asked how much of the fund-balance decrease was attributable to the hurricane, the auditor declined to give a precise split without additional data but said much of the increase in expenditures in late 2024 (an approximately $44 million rise in expenditures compared with FY2023) related to hurricane response and repair costs.
The audit documents will be posted on the city website and distributed to commissioners; the auditors said they plan to begin 2025 fieldwork after the July Fourth holiday and aim to present the 2025 audit results in September or October.
