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City auditors give South Ogden a clean opinion, flag internal-control and compliance gaps
Summary
Auditors gave South Ogden an unmodified opinion on the FY2024 financial statements but identified an internal-control finding related to the financial close process and three state-compliance items, including a road fund overrun and missing required trainings.
Marcus Arbuckle of auditing firm Kennington & Christensen told the South Ogden City Council on Feb. 18 that the firm issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the city's FY2024 financial statements.
"We've given an unmodified opinion which is a clean opinion," Arbuckle said, adding that auditors found no uncorrected misstatements or disagreements with management. He said the audit nevertheless produced recommendations and a single internal-control finding tied to the city's financial close process.
Arbuckle described the internal-control issue as failures in the monthly financial-close routine and advised monthly bank reconciliations and routine presentation of financials to the council. He also summarized the state-compliance testing the firm performs for the state auditor's guide and identified three compliance items: a road improvement fund that was over budget by about $47,000; the council had not been provided monthly financial statements as required for cities of South Ogden's class; and the city had not completed annual Open and Public Meetings Act training.
Councilmembers asked technical questions about the audit report's MD&A presentation and a minor inconsistency in enterprise fund classification; auditors said they would review and correct editorial items. Management prepared written responses to the findings, and Arbuckle thanked city staff for cooperation in preparing for the audit.
The council did not take a formal vote on the audit itself; staff said they will follow up on the cited internal-control recommendation, bring monthly financial statements to the council going forward, and pursue the required training.
