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PARKERSBURG -- The City of Parkersburg received a clean audit with an unmodified opinion and no findings for the fourth year in a row.
"I must again applaud the efforts of our Finance Director Eric Jiles and his team for their continued dedication and steadfast commitment in the execution of fiduciary duties in both a professional and compliant manner," Mayor Tom Joyce said in a statement released Tuesday.
"The trust of the public with regards to our community finances is one that he and I share as being of the utmost importance, and yet another clean audit shows that our processes and leadership are working in a manner that is both expected and appreciated," he said.
Conducted by accounting firm Suttle & Stalnaker, the audit reviewed the city's financial statements and federal programs for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022.
In his statement, Joyce noted the city's total net position, which factors in all assets minus liabilities, has improved from a deficit of nearly $64 million as of June 30, 2017, to about $26 million as of June 30,2022. That includes long-term liabilities that will become due in the future, such as police and fire pensions.
By law, the city operates with short-term assets and liabilities, resulting in a required balanced budget on an annual basis, Jiles said.
About $12 million of that is the result of the way American Rescue Plan Act funds that had been awarded but not spent by the end of the fiscal year in question. According to the audit report, they were reclassified from revenue to "unearned revenue," which Jiles said is a technical change that places it as a liability until it is spent. Then it will be shifted to revenue and the corresponding expenditure recorded.
The change is for accounting purposes and has no "functional impact," Jiles said.
Joyce said the city's financial position remains stable and has benefited from the closing of the fire and police pension plans to new hires in the fall of 2017. People hired since then are under a different plan, and the move allowed the city to change the way it pays for the liability, reducing costs over time.
"The closing of the original police and fire pension plans remains the most impactful and positive improvement to the city's financial stability," he said. "This action will allow for operational and capital improvements for many years to come."