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Parkersburg gets clean audit

Photo by Evan Bevins The Audit Committee of the City of Parkersburg met Friday at the Municipal Building to discuss the 2017-18 audit, which received an unmodified, or clean, opinion. Pictured are, clockwise from left, Assistant Finance Director Angie Smith, Finance Director Eric Jiles, Mayor Tom Joyce and Randy Cole, Ryan Mink and Chris S. Lambert, with accounting firm Suttle & Stalnaker.

PARKERSBURG — The City of Parkersburg received an unmodified opinion on the audit of its fiscal year 2017-18 finances, with no major problems.

“That is the best report you can get, so that’s good news for the city,” said Ryan Mink, certified public accountant with Suttle & Stalnaker, the firm that performed the audit.

The report, discussed Friday at a meeting of the city’s Audit Committee, included one noted material weakness, which Mink described as “essentially an interpretation issue.”

Based on past direction from the West Virginia Auditor’s Office, Finance Director Eric Jiles said the Finance Department had recorded police, fire, sanitation and floodwall fee amounts as revenue when they were billed. But not all of those fees are paid in a timely fashion.

“Eventually, either they pay or it’s written off,” Mink said.

Photo by Evan Bevins Certified public accountant Ryan Mink with the accounting firm Suttle & Stalnaker discusses the City of Parkersburg’s 2017-18 audit during a meeting Friday at the Municipal Building.

After consulting with the auditor’s department, it was determined that revenue that is not collected within 120 days of the end of the fiscal year in which it was billed should be recorded as deferred revenue, he said.

In accordance with that, a total of nearly $849,000 in uncollected revenue from fiscal 2017-18 and previous years was restated as deferred revenue. Jiles said that does not mean the city will give up on collecting that revenue nor that the city did not have enough money to cover expenses.

“By the time we get through the judicial process, most people pay,” Mink said. The way the revenue is recorded is “a timing issue.”

Jiles said the change will affect what is considered “available revenue” in the city’s budget regarding funds carried over into the next fiscal year. Additional procedures will be implemented to “minimize the potential impact going forward,” he said.

Suttle & Stalnaker representatives praised the work of city officials in assisting with the financial review.

This was the second year Suttle & Stalnaker performed the city’s audit. Their contract is up, and the city will be seeking bids for upcoming audits later this year.

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