Citi’s net income increased by $13 million last year
The City of Durango announced that it received a “highest score” in its annual Comprehensive Financial Report prepared by independent auditor Eide Bailly’s review of the city’s books and records.
The audit identified only two errors in the city’s financial statements.
- 2022 premium payments incorrectly submitted as having occurred by December 31, 2021.
- Absence of business improvement district tax the city will receive in 2022.
Eide Bailly’s Paul Kane said at the Durango City Council on Tuesday that the amendments were made to reflect accuracy during the audit.
Kane said the nine-month effort to conduct the 2021 audit and final financial statements is markedly paced compared to the 15-month process associated with the 2019 comprehensive financial reporting. said it was a significant improvement.
“The turnaround time for our Annual Comprehensive Financial Report has increased over the past few years as the Finance Division restructured in 2020 after the former Director of the Finance Division was convicted of embezzlement,” the news release said. says.
Former city treasurer Julie Brown was sentenced to five years in prison in 2021 for embezzling more than $700,000 from the city over 11 years. She was then sentenced to her 90 days in prison and her 20 years probation.
Kane said financial audits have improved significantly and the Eide Bailly team aims to complete the 2022 audit by the end of June next year. This is in line with the work schedule the city had in place before the Brown embezzlement scandal rocked things.
He said that since 2020, Eide Bailly has conducted forensic audits and internal control examinations with the help of third-party consultants. They were barely used in his 2020 financial audit, and this year’s audit was all done in-house at Eide Bailly.
“I think you guys are on track to get this done even more quickly next year, maybe going back to where we used to be,” he said.
The City of Durango announced the release of its audited 2021 Annual Financial Report on September 15. This comes days after Durango resident John Simpson filed a lawsuit against the city after being denied access to an unaudited version of the same report.
City spokesman Tom Slewis said the timing of the audited report’s release had nothing to do with Simpson’s Sept. 9 lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that the city violated the Colorado Public Records Act by denying him access to its unaudited 2021 financial report.
“I look forward to the judge’s ruling to settle this matter,” Sluis said of the lawsuit.
He said the city is confident in how it routinely provides financial data to the public in an accurate and transparent manner.
Audit highlights
Eide Bailly’s Alex Arndt said the city’s assets exceed its liabilities by nearly $365 million.
He said the allocated and unallocated fund balances in the city’s General Fund increased by about 39% in 2021. This indicates a healthy position for reserves.
The city’s net revenue increased by more than $13 million in 2021 compared to 2020, from $18,234,341 last year to $31,603,961 last year.
He added that the debt and the value of the debt are declining as a result of debt payments, with no additional debt added in 2021.
Net revenue increased from approximately $88 million to $89 million last year, while net expenses also increased by approximately $6 million, from $69.5 million to approximately $76 million.
“Some of these (cost) increases were due to many business types (funds). Water and sewage had more additional costs than in previous years, as well as transportation funding,” Arndt said. said.
Eide Bailly’s Kane said the Durango-La Plata County airport is also in a strong financial position. His total restricted and unrestricted fund balance for 2021 was $13,101,851, or 189% of his annual spending.
Total DRO revenue in 2021 was approximately $8 million, down approximately $4 million from 2020 as a result of COVID-19 funding and airport improvement programs.
“Airports are back to normal. You know it’s been a great year of travel,” he said. “It feels like the whole country did. But by all accounts, Durango seemed to just be hopping, and the airport saw a spike in operating revenues and an increase in operating expenses.”