Another year almost down, another audit in the books.
City of Elizabethton leaders are pleased with the 2016 fiscal year audit report that saw no findings reported. The fiscal year ended June 30 of this year.
According to the report issued by Blackburn, Childers & Steagall, PLC, the auditors stated “In our opinion, based on our audit and the report of other auditors, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position of the governmental activities, the business-type activities, the aggregate discretely presented component units, each major fund and the aggregate remaining fund information of the City, as of June 30, 2016, …. “
The city’s finance director and city clerk Deborah Kessler added officials were pleased with the results.
“There were several departments that helped make this year’s audit a success and we appreciate their work,” she said.”This is like a report card for our finances, so it’s always great to see good results.”
The report is nothing out of the ordinary for the city, which has recorded several successful audits in the past that have shown no findings. The school system also turned in a solid showing for their audit. This year also marks the second year in a row the Elizabethton Electric Department recorded no findings.
The previous issue documented in 2014 was a minor incident involving work orders, which was quickly corrected, according to the 2015 report.
According to the report, financial highlights from the 2016 fiscal year include:
• assets and deferred outflows of resources of the city exceeded its liabilities and deferred inflows of resources at the close of the most recent year by $78,859,476. Of the amount, $67,516,355 is net investment in capital assists.
• the city’s total net position increased by $2,739,777.
• the city’s total debt decreased by $3,082,090 during the current year, excluding net pension liability.
• at the end of the current year, the city’s governmental funds reported combined ending fund balances of $7,951,983. Of the amount, $56,988 is non-spendable, $314,517 is restricted, $2,772,477 is committed, $729,995 is assigned and $4,078,006 is unassigned fund balance.
• at the end of the current year, fund balance for the general fund was $7,364,956, 39.3 percent of total general fund expenditures including transfers out. The balance included $31,988 non-spendable, $35,195 restricted, $2,703,234 committed, $516,533 assigned and $4,078,006 unassigned fund balance.
With this year’s audit in, Kessler added the city is working toward continuing the success of previous audits and reiterated that the city is still in good financial shape moving forward.
Citizens can visit the city’s website at elizabethton.org to view the audit in its entirety.