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Sikitch audit: Elgen earns unmodified opinion; general fund holds roughly eight months of reserves
Summary
Sikitch LLC presented Elgen's FY25 audit and issued an unmodified (clean) opinion. The report shows an unassigned general fund balance of $123.9 million (about eight months of expenditures), a FY25 decrease of roughly $2.1 million, and pension liabilities for police and fire funds with improvement plans to reach 100% funding by 2040.
Sikitch LLC Director Tom Siki told the City Council on June 24 that the auditors issued an unmodified opinion on Elgen’s FY25 consolidated financial statements — the highest standard of assurance auditors provide. "We issue what we call an unmodified opinion in accordance with those standards," Siki said, adding it is also called a "clean audit opinion."
Siki highlighted key figures in the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report: the city’s general fund held $123.9 million in unassigned fund balance, which he said represents roughly eight months of expenditures. The general fund experienced a decrease in fund balance of about $2.1 million in FY25. Siki encouraged council members and the public to read the Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) section for year-over-year context.
On pensions, Siki said the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) net pension liability decreased to about $1.6 million, and that the IMRF plan is well funded. He reported larger liabilities for local public-safety pensions: the police pension fund carried about $126 million in net pension liability and a funded ratio of roughly 63.1 percent; the fire pension fund carried about $79 million in net pension liability and was roughly 67.1 percent funded. The city plans to 100 percent fund those plans by 2040, above the statutory 90 percent requirement.
Sikitch noted budget-to-actual performance: the general fund underperformed the original budgeted decrease (the budget had anticipated a larger drawdown), meaning the year’s results were better than budgeted by roughly $21.7 million on the general-fund budget vs. actual schedule. The audit included one adjusting journal entry and no internal-control deficiencies; Sikitch reported no residual comments from the prior year.
Council members thanked the finance team and asked about comparative benchmarks for fund balance and key financial risks. Siki said Elgen’s unrestricted fund balance compares well with similarly sized Illinois municipalities (six to 12 months is common) and highlighted state revenue timing and grant availability as near-term risks.
Siki closed by pointing council and residents to the MD&A and the statistical section for trend data; he offered to return to answer further questions.
