Evanston auditors issue clean FY2025 opinion; committee votes to place ACFR on file

Martha Trotter, lead principal from Sikich & Company, told the Evanston Finance & Budget Committee on July 8 that the city's fiscal year 2025 financial statements received a clean, unmodified opinion from the independent auditors.

Trotter said the audit met generally accepted auditing standards and the city met the six-month reporting requirement. She highlighted an overall governmental net position decline of $5.5 million, a $1.4 million increase in proprietary activities and $6 million in entity-wide investment income for the year. The audit included required supplementary information and a statistical section to provide ten-year trend context.

The auditors reported no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal control for FY2025. "I am pleased to present a clean, unmodified opinion," Trotter said. She noted the audit team performed additional compliance testing because of the city's level of grant expenditures and disclosed improvements in pension funding percentages: the police pension was reported at 72% funded and the fire pension at 63% funded for 2025.

Committee members and staff questioned auditors about two timing and reporting issues. Committee member Livingston asked whether delays in Cook County property tax bills complicated the audit; Trotter said auditors performed alternate procedures because some county reports were not yet available and that certain March collections fall outside GASB's 60-day accrual window and would be reflected in 2026 statements. Trotter and staff also explained that the city reports IMRF one year in arrears to avoid delaying the audit issuance; auditors said that practice is permissible under GASB guidance if applied consistently.

Public commenter Jack Mortel raised concerns about what he described as a $15 million data-entry error in prior materials and urged stronger audit oversight and a requirement that future audit RFPs verify reconciliations with state sources. The auditors and staff said corrections had been made and reiterated that the FY2025 audit disclosed no reportable control failures at the material weakness level. "We did find some entries that required correction," Trotter said, "but there were no items rising to the level of material weaknesses or significant deficiencies to disclose." Mortel said he would like to meet with committee leadership to review his findings.

After the presentation and questions, the committee took a voice vote to receive and place the FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report on file; the motion carried 6-0. Chair [name withheld in transcript] and staff said the audit and the questions raised would inform future audit RFP language and midyear reconciliations.

What happens next: staff and auditors said they will monitor Cook County adjustments that could alter some fund balances reported for 2025 and will bring material adjustments to the committee when they become available. The committee also asked that fund reconciliations and IDOT/MFT reviews be considered as part of the next auditor procurement.

Sources: Presentation and Q&A at the Evanston Finance & Budget Committee meeting, July 8, 2026. Quotes are attributed to speakers who appeared in the committee record.