Audit Report Lists High Expenditures Due to Impact of Tornado

BY DAVID FISHER
david@magicvalleypublishing.com

During a meeting of the Dresden City Board on Feb. 13, CPA John Pool gave an audit report regarding the City of Dresden’s financial records.
Pool stated his firm did not find anything that gave them any concern in this year’s report.
He mentioned the audit report, which is required to be performed annually, provides the state with the financial information they require for their oversight capacity.
Pool said, “We, as auditors, look at the money the city should be receiving from the property tax; monthly sales taxes from the county; money we get from the state, like the gas tax and state sales tax; and other miscellaneous funds – to make sure we get the monies we’re supposed to. In my opinion, I certainly believe that we are.
“On the utilities side of revenues owed the city, we may have people that have not paid, but we didn’t find any areas of concern.”
Additionally, Pool stated he didn’t find any issues regarding tax dollars not being spent for city business.
According to Pool, the General Fund shows a surplus of $128,000.
Pool noted there were a lot of capital expenditures, largely due to tornado recovery efforts. “The numbers aren’t great, but that’s largely due to what happened 14 months ago (the tornado).”
“Revenues are up, but Solid Waste expenditures were also up. The city purchased a couple of trucks costing $177,000, but that’s an expense you may only incur every 10 years or so.”
He stated expenditures were more than revenues.
“At the end of June, we had almost $2.4 million in a savings account in the General Fund, but spent that much,” Pool said. “That’s significant, but I realize you’re having financial difficulties because of all the rebuilding you need to do.
“Even though the economy is under a strain, there was more revenue coming in this year than there was last year, so that’s good news.”
Pool stated the bad news is, in a utility fund, the city is required to have a profit every other year, otherwise, the fund becomes classified as being under review. Losses in this fund amounted to $219,000.
Mayor Maddox stated the Water and Sewer Fund is being monitored to make sure the city is not in the red during the current fiscal year.
The board accepted the financial report by unanimous vote.