Independence receives clean annual financial audit

The city of Independence’s annual financial audit has come back clean.

John Chamberlin, an accountant from Chamberlin Owen, the firm that performed the audit, presented the audit’s results to the Independence City Council on Monday.

“We’ve given what’s called an unmodified opinion, meaning no modifications are made to the opinion, and that’s the highest opinion that we give,” Chamberlin said. “This means that we believe your financial statements present fairly in all material respects, are fairly stated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that’s what you want.”

Chamberlin presented his firm’s findings to the council, which you can view below.

Cities must perform independent financial audits every year. While not foolproof, audits are a way of ensuring public institutions have good financial procedures in place and are accurately reporting on their monetary figures.

Auditors can suggest policy changes, flag questionable transactions, point out record-keeping deficiencies and indicate shoddy processes within the institution they’re investigating. An unmodified opinion from an auditor means no changes were suggested and is generally viewed as indicating the city is in good shape financially.

Audits do not level judgment on whether the things on which the city is spending its money are worthwhile.

Highlights from Chamberlin Owen’s audit include the following:

• Total city assets increased by about $2.7 million
• City cash reserves stood at about $18.5 million at the time of the audit, which is enough to keep the city running for about 17 months
• City liabilities decreased by about $5.5 million
• Overall city revenue increased by about $1.8 million
• Overall expenditures declined by about $4 million

Read the complete audit, which includes financial statements, reconciliations and commentary on the city’s financial practices, below.