Rising Sun auditors deliver clean opinion; town reminded to account for $2.3 million in unspent ARPA funds

Independent auditors told the Town of Rising Sun commissioners on March 12 that they issued a clean opinion on the town’s audited financial statements and found no reportable deficiencies.

“After our audit of the financial statements, we offered a clean opinion. We had no findings when it came to the financial statements,” the auditors said during the meeting.

The audit presentation, led by Kim Stang of Zelenkovsky Accerod and auditor Steve Rock, walked commissioners through the town’s government-wide and proprietary fund results. The auditors reported roughly $8.4 million in governmental assets and about $24.5 million in business-type assets (water and sewer), with governmental net position of about $3.6 million and business-type net position of about $3.7 million.

The auditors also reviewed fund-level statements and noted a positive change in governmental fund balance of roughly $229,000 for the year and a loss in proprietary funds of approximately $677,000, largely attributable to depreciation of water and sewer capital assets.

The auditors flagged an estimated $2,300,000 of unspent American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. A speaker at the meeting noted the town must either obligate those funds under eligible provisions of government services or ensure they are contracted and documented before federal reporting deadlines, and offered the auditor firm’s help preparing the required ARPA report.

The audit team also explained that approximately $650,000 of expenditures exceeded budgeted appropriations but were covered by about $1.2 million in unbudgeted revenues, resulting in no net shortfall for the year.

Town staff thanked the auditors and highlighted the town’s long-term efforts to recover from prior declines in property tax base and to manage sewer and water capital needs. The audit materials included detailed notes on capital assets, long-term debt, and other disclosures that accompany the statements.

The presentation concluded with the auditors’ report on internal controls; auditors said they tested controls and reported no control findings in the sections they tested.

The commission did not take formal action on the audit presentation at the meeting; the audit documents were provided to commissioners and submitted to the appropriate state filing (UFR) as part of the deliverables.

Next steps: commissioners were advised to work with staff and the auditors on the ARPA reporting requirement due in April and to review the audit documentation and governance letter provided by the auditors.