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City auditor gives Poplar Bluff a clean opinion but flags budget and federal-grant documentation steps
Summary
Independent auditors gave the City of Poplar Bluff an unmodified (clean) opinion for FY2023 but recommended better budget controls for funds that overexpended and a documented federal debarment-check process for vendors paid over $25,000; the council accepted the audit.
Jeff Schroeder, the auditor from the city's independent audit firm, told the Poplar Bluff City Council that the FY2023 financial statements "present fairly in all material respects the financial position, changes in financial position and cash flows in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles." He said that language defines an unmodified (clean) opinion.
Schroeder summarized three reports the firm issues: the audit opinion on the financial statements, a report on internal controls and compliance, and the federal-award compliance report. He said the auditors found no reportable internal-control deficiencies but noted that several city funds either overexpended their budgets or did not have budgets, and recommended the city either keep expenditures within budget limits or amend budgets midyear to reflect changed circumstances.
On federal-award testing, Schroeder said the city's total federal grant expenditures for the year were $3,367,448, of which roughly $2,100,000 came from federal COVID-related and ARPA grant funds. He told council the auditors tested compliance with federal requirements for the ARPA funds and found no instances of noncompliance. He also said auditors identified nine vendors paid more than $25,000 for whom a documented debarment check was not present in the files and recommended the city use the federal exclusions database and retain a record of the search for each vendor.
Council members asked whether the $25,000 debarment-check threshold applies only to federally funded expenditures; Schroeder confirmed the requirement is tied to federal funding.
After the presentation and brief questions, a council member moved to accept the audit as presented; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. The council did not direct additional action at that meeting beyond accepting the audit and the auditor's recommendations for documenting budget amendments and debarment checks.
The council's acceptance of the audit brings the formal FY2023 audit process to a close; staff noted they will consider the auditor's suggestions in future budget and grant-administration procedures.
