Each year the city has accomplished through an independent auditor an audit of the city books. This audit process is time consuming and comprehensive. All funds of the city are reviewed including operating funds, community center, debt service, project funds and enterprise funds of golf, water and sewer. The activity involves verifying account activity of transactions and balances. The audit process generally takes 3 or more auditors about 3-5 days of activity in our office to accomplish and then assembling the reports takes a month or two before the process is completed with a report to the city council.
Looking at this in an organized manner the following activities occur during the audit:
- Verification of golf inventory
- Verification of fixed asset inventory
- Reconciliation of cash and investments
- Verification that revenues and expenditures are reported appropriately
- Comparisons of actual revenues and expenditures to budget are done
- Analysis of project costs is completed
- Verification that all liabilities are recorded
- Verification that all receivable are recorded
- Compliance with bid requirements is checked and verified
- Reconciliation of bond funds is accomplished
- Assessments and delinquencies are reconciled
- Tax revenues and delinquencies are also reconciled
- Internal controls are reviewed and tested
As the audit is accomplished the Auditors use Government Accounting Standards along with accepted accounting principles in reviewing the finances of the city. Over the past few years the Governmental Accounting Standards Board has changed the way governmental accounting is accomplished. There goals have been to create a more transparent view of the finances of a governmental entity by moving the reporting more towards that of business. They have also wanted to improve fiscal controls and accountability within the reports. Adding these requirements each year provides additional information but also more complexity to the audit process.
The goal when completed would be to achieve an unqualified opinion from the auditor concerning the finances of the city. Along with that would also include good fiscal health of the city’s finances. These have been achieved in the past and our expectation is that that would continue with the 2007 audit.
