Both the cities of Motley and Randall recently received audits of their financial statements for the fiscal year of 2023. Below are summaries of the results of these audits:
Motley:
At the Monday, April 8 Motley City Council meeting, Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Ryan Schmidt from the accounting firm Schlenner, Wenner & Co. presented the results of the city’s annual financial audit for the 2023 fiscal year. Schmidt provided Council members and members of the public in attendance with a thorough overview of the audit process and the city’s financial position.
Schmidt began by explaining the procedures undertaken during the audit, such as obtaining the city’s financial records and transactions from throughout the year in order to express an opinion on the accuracy of the financial statements. He noted that based on the work performed, the city received an unmodified or “clean” opinion, which is the best result that can be achieved.
In his presentation, Schmidt highlighted various required communications from the audit. He reported that the audit went smoothly without any difficulties obtaining information from the city. The only standard items noted were minor audit adjustments to convert cash-based records to accrual balances, as well as the typical lack of segregation of duties in a small organization.
Schmidt then analyzed the city’s financial statements in more depth. He noted the general fund came in slightly over budget on revenues and close to budget on expenditures. Fund balances remained healthy overall. The proprietary funds like water, sewer and solid waste also showed steady operations.
The auditor concluded by emphasizing that the city maintains sufficient fund balances and low debt levels according to policy. He did not have any concerns about the city’s financial position or recommendations for changes based on the audit work. Council members expressed their appreciation for the clean audit results and voted unanimously to accept the 2023 audited financial statements.
“I think you look good,” Schmidt said. “I always like to look at the page where it looks at your general fund balance as a percentage of your operations, just because that’s a ratio that even a small city can compare to other cities of similar size. I talked about how you have a policy to keep (your unassigned fund balance as a percentage of the annual budget) at 50% or higher, and you’re at 133%. So that’s a pretty strong fund balance in the general fund and all your proprietary funds seem to be operating the way that they should as far as positive income from operations. And so I don’t really have any concerns.”
The thorough presentation provided residents with assurance that the city continues sound financial management and oversight of public funds. The Council and city staff will use the results to guide ongoing budget and policy decisions.
Randall:
At the Wednesday, April 10 Randall City Council meeting, CPA Jon Archer from Schlenner, Wenner & Co. presented the results of the annual audit of the city of Randall’s 2023 financial statements. Archer reported that the city received an unmodified, “clean” opinion on its financials.
Archer commended city staff for their cooperation during the audit process. He noted that transactions were coded correctly and internal controls were functioning as intended. However, he did identify some ongoing issues with reconciling the city’s bank statements to its accounting records. Although adjustments were needed, Archer was still able to issue an unmodified opinion.
The general fund ended the year with a small surplus of $4,697, bringing the fund balance to $85,608. However, when committed funds for capital projects and cemeteries were excluded, the unrestricted fund balance was actually a deficit of $63,000. Archer said this was an improvement over the prior year’s 22% deficit.
Several other funds saw changes in net position. The water and sewer funds both incurred extra costs to repair damage from flooding last year. Grants helped offset these costs but the water fund still saw a $96,215 decrease in net position.
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