Auditors give Shabbona a clean opinion for fiscal 2025; board accepts report

Jen Martinson, a partner at Watercock and Hayman, presented the village’s financial statement audit for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2025, and reported a clean, unmodified opinion.

Martinison told the board that the audit testing procedures are complete and that the firm issued “a clean, unmodified audit opinion again for fiscal year 2025,” and she highlighted the management’s discussion and analysis section as a concise summary of the year’s financial changes. She noted overall governmental fund balances ended “just over $184,000” and flagged that the general fund’s ending balance is low — about $23,000 — compared with best-practice reserves.

Board members asked for clarification about planned fund transfers later in the meeting (roughly $76,000 in moves were discussed) and about whether commingled cash had contributed to prior misstatements. Martinson said transfers between fund types can be normal but advised the board to review the purpose and restrictions on each fund and consider stronger segregation of restricted and grant funds where required.

After discussion, the board moved to accept the audit. The motion to accept the annual audit carried on a roll-call vote under Resolution 20251218R1.

Why it matters: a clean audit opinion means the village’s financial statements were presented fairly in all material respects, but the report also gave the board concrete fiscal-management prompts — notably, work to restore the general fund’s reserves and to address historical commingling.