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Council hears audit showing $321,000 general fund balance; auditor flags weak segregation of duties
Summary
Auditors told the North Town Council the general fund ended the year with $321,000 and warned the town lacks segregation of duties; the presentation included enterprise fund totals, declining long-term debt and recommendations to reconcile billed versus collected revenues.
The North Town Council received its annual audit at the Dec. 9 meeting and was told the town ended the fiscal year with a $321,000 general fund balance and an enterprise-fund net position of about $12.6 million.
Foreman Stone of Robertson Farmer Cox presented the audit and warned councilors the town has a "lack of segregation" of duties for financial roles, saying, "you just don't have enough people for all the roles you can expect." He recommended procedures such as reconciling assessed taxes and billed sewer to collections to reduce the risk that a single employee could both bill and collect funds.
The audit summary presented other figures the firm used to characterize the town's fiscal position: long-term government debt of roughly $591,000, enterprise-fund long-term debt of about $635,000, and a computed debt-per-capita of roughly $586. Stone also noted that federal ARPA dollars have inflated recent year balances and that the firm shows federal aid as revenue only when it is spent.
Councilors asked questions about the recommended reconciliations and how timing differences in billing can alter loss-rate calculations. Stone reiterated that reconciliation between beginning assessment, supplemental assessments and exonerations should be used to compare billed amounts to cash received and that leak-detection and meter upgrades can materially affect reported water loss.
Council members thanked the auditor for the presentation. No formal vote on acceptance of the audit was recorded in the meeting transcript; the auditors remained available for follow-up questions.
Next steps: councilors and staff said they will follow up on the auditor's recommended reconciliations and pursue clarifying procedures to reduce fiscal risk going forward.
