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City accepts 2024 audit; auditors note qualified ARPA finding
Summary
Court-appointed auditors delivered an unmodified opinion on the city's 2024 financial statements but issued a qualified opinion on ARPA federal funds, citing repeat findings on reporting and suspension/debarment checks; council approved the audit.
Courtney Richmond, an audit partner, presented the executive summary of the 12/31/2024 audit and said the city received "a clean audit opinion," also described in professional terms as an unmodified opinion for the financial statements. She told the council that auditors use a risk-based approach and did not identify material misstatements in the overall financial statements.
Richmond said the city expended approximately $1,800,000 in federal awards in 2024 and that triggered a federal compliance audit for ARPA funding. "For the 2024 audit, the city received a qualified opinion over that ARPA program," she said, adding the finding related to reporting and to procurement suspension and debarment—two repeat issues from 2023. Richmond also listed two financial-statement findings: segregation of duties (a staffing-limit issue) and proposed journal entries that required adjustment during the audit.
The presentation included fund- and program-level details: the general fund ended 2024 with a balance just above $3,000,000, the city spent about $2.4 million more than revenue in the general fund for the year, and operating results varied across the water, wastewater and liquor funds. Richmond noted revenue shortfalls and construction-timing differences that affected expenditures and fund balance.
Council member Ron Sagen moved to approve the 2024 audit and Schmidt seconded. The motion carried by voice vote.
The audit materials flagged specific corrective areas and recommended administrative responses; Richmond said some changes and additional cross checks were already underway. The council did not take additional immediate action beyond approving the report; staff said they would follow up on the federal findings and work to address repeat issues in ARPA reporting.
