Controller says AFR filed, audit nearly complete after 2022 reporting error flagged

Controller Jeff McKim updated the Special Finance Committee on the citys annual financial filings and audit schedule, saying the unaudited annual financial report (AFR) was submitted to the state gateway on Feb. 27 and that auditors have scheduled an exit conference for the audited annual comprehensive financial report (ACFR) on April 2.

The committee heard why the AFR differs from the ACFR and what the public can expect next. McKim said the AFR is a data-driven report produced from the state portal and contains no narrative; the ACFR is the audited, GAAP-based statement that provides broader fiscal context. He told the committee the city has been behind on some filings in recent years but that the 2024 audit process is nearing conclusion and the city expects to be back on schedule for future filings.

Why it matters: the AFR contains the raw numbers the public and council review, but it is unaudited and often exported in PDF form that fails accessibility checks. The ACFR gives independent assurance through the auditors work; the exit conference is an important step before the state posts the audit and the ACFR becomes public.

Members of the public raised two concrete concerns at the meeting. Resident Kevin Kio urged greater transparency and an audit trail for changes after noting apparent errors in Table 12 of the ACFR; he asked that the council see audited reports earlier so they can inform budget discussions. Eric Host asked the city to publish AFR/ACFR PDFs in Section 508 / WCAG 2.1 AA-accessible format and flagged what he described as material misstatements in long-range debt that should be verified.

McKim acknowledged a formula error in the 2022 ACFRs constitutional debt-limit table, saying the table omitted dividing assessed value by three in the calculation; he said the table was corrected in the 2023 report and that, at no point, had the city exceeded the constitutional debt limit. McKim also said parts of the ACFR are audited and other narrative sections are not, and he offered to investigate whether the error came from city staff, the GAAP compiler, or the auditors.

What comes next: auditors exit conference is scheduled for April 2, after which the state board of accounts typically posts the audit a few weeks later. McKim and committee members discussed options for publishing accessible AFR outputs or a city-hosted change log to document post-submission amendments; the gateway portal itself produces an output-only file with no narrative or change annotations.

Quotes: "We submitted our AFR information on February 27th," McKim said. "The AFR data is submitted via the state's gateway local government portal and the actual AFR report is simply an output of that portal." Resident Kevin Kio said he sometimes felt "like I'm being gaslighted" when he sees changes and would like an audit trail. Eric Host urged accessibility, saying, "PDFs can be put into Section 508 standard format, WCAG 2.1 AA."

Ending: The committee asked McKim to look into the origin of the 2022 table error and to return with options for improving public access to AFR materials, including an accessible PDF and a change log; the committee also noted that the exit conference is not public and the ACFR will be embargoed until the state posts the approved audit.