ALBEMARLE — Martin Starnes and Associates has presented the City of Albemarle with a clean audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023.
At the Albemarle City Council’s meeting on Dec. 18, the council was given the city’s financial statements and audit report from Jill Vang, a representative of Martin Starnes and Associates.
“Your audit has been submitted to the Local Government Commission and we are awaiting their approval. This year, we issued an unmodified opinion, which is clean and the best opinion that you can get,” Vang told the council members.
“We tested three major programs as part of the single audit reporting. The programs were the COVID-19 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, the Public Housing Operating Fund, and the Power Bill Program.”
Earlier in the day, the City of Albemarle announced in a media release that it had been honored with the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for the prior year’s cycle.
“Receiving this award for the sixth year in a row is proof of the City of Albemarle’s dedication to sound management, transparency, and good stewardship of resources as outlined in the city’s mission statement,” said Jacob Weavil, City of Albemarle Finance Director. “We thank the GFOA for recognizing the work of our Finance Department and the entire City of Albemarle as an organization to achieve this honor.
That certificate — judged by an impartial panel to meet the standards of the program — is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting, and was given based on the city’s annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2022.
It is awarded to financial reporting showing the “spirit of full disclosure to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the report.”
At the Albemarle City Council’s recent meeting, the council members also honored and congratulated Joel Thompson Jr., Sammie Lilly and James Thomas on their retirements from the City of Albemarle after working for 30 years in the Water and Sewer Division of Public Utilities.
Upon receiving his retirement certificate, Lilly said, “I want to thank the city for the opportunity to work for a good organization. What I’ll miss the most is my co-workers, but I’m still part of the family.”
The city council is set to hold its next meeting on Jan. 2 in the Albemarle City Hall Council Chambers.