City auditor reports clean opinion after resolving prior audit backlog

Ryan Schmidt of Schleiner, Wenner and Company presented the city’s audit update to the City Council and reported a clean opinion after staff addressed legacy audit issues. City administration thanked staff for work completing past audits and fixing accounts-payable and escrow items that had delayed previous work.

Council and administration described the audit progress as substantial: when the new city manager started in December, the 2022 audit was incomplete and the 2023 audit had not been initiated; staff subsequently addressed records and processes so the auditor could issue a clean opinion. The auditor’s presentation included trend analysis of the general fund and budget comparisons; staff noted public works had been under budget by about $260,000 in one example cited.

The auditor and staff said the findings remaining were minor, already resolved or beyond the city’s immediate control. No council action was required on the audit presentation.

Quotes (from meeting):
"we have a clean opinion, which is not where we were a year ago" — Staff member
"things went really well" — Ryan Schmidt, Schleiner, Wenner and Company

Ending: The council received the audit presentation and had no formal motion; staff will continue to monitor financial controls and follow up where the auditor recommended enhancements.