Independent audit gives Seattle City Light a clean opinion for fiscal 2025

Baker Tilly presented the fiscal 2025 independent financial audit for Seattle City Light to the Parks and City Light Committee on July 15, reporting an unmodified (clean) opinion and no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies.

Aaron Wortham, lead audit principal at Baker Tilly, said the firm spent roughly 1,000 hours on the audit, which focused on internal controls (particularly IT), capital assets, revenues and accounts receivable, environmental liabilities and other standard areas. Wortham said the audit found no adjusting journal entries, no disagreements with management, and no reportable internal-control deficiencies. He recommended that committee members review the accounting policies and the management representation letter included in the communication packet.

Committee members praised the department for the clean opinion. Several council members observed that the audit covers fiscal year 2025 under former general manager Don Lindell; Vice Chair Kettle used the audit to argue that the mayor's personnel decision to remove Lindell was not supported by the audit findings, a point other members acknowledged as context but not a procedural outcome of the audit presentation.