Stockbridge council accepts 2025 audit; auditors report clean opinion, five material weaknesses

The Stockbridge City Council unanimously accepted the city's 2025 audit after a public presentation by Malden & Jenkins and a remote briefing from the city's financial adviser.

"We did issue an unmodified or clean opinion on the financial statements," engagement director Sarah Higginbotham said during the presentation, noting the audit provided reasonable, not absolute, assurance and that the city received a clean compliance opinion for its federal programs. The auditors disclosed five material weaknesses repeated from the prior year related to receivables management, depreciation and capitalization of assets, amphitheater project accounting and interfund reporting; the number of reported internal-control issues was reduced from 11 the prior year.

Mayor Pro Tem Elton Alexander and the auditors discussed corrective actions that staff has documented in the audit, including standardizing receivable procedures, improving asset capitalization processes and strengthening amphitheater project accounting in the city's ERP. Auditor notes and a management letter with suggested improvements were presented; staff said the corrective-action plans are included in the audit book and will be circulated to council and posted for public review.

The council formally moved to accept the audit after the presentation. Treasurer and assistant city manager Frank Malozzi described the steps staff took during the fiscal-year reconciliation and thanked auditors and finance staff for their work. The motion to accept the 2025 audit passed by unanimous vote.