Plant Moran presented the City of Warren’s audit for the year ended June 30, 2024, and council voted to receive and file the audit documents after questions from council members and city staff.

The audit team said the city received an unmodified (clean) opinion on the financial statements. Joe Brickie of Plant Moran told council that general fund revenues rose about 7.6% in fiscal 2024 and that the city ended the year with a general fund fund balance of about $95 million, including an unassigned fund balance of roughly $24.3 million (about 19% of fiscal‑year 2024 expenditures). Auditors also reported roughly $17.9 million of ARPA funds remaining to be spent.

The auditors reported one financial‑statement finding. Plant Moran said certain capital asset additions (about $5.1 million) and some grant‑revenue and receivable items were omitted from the city’s fixed‑asset records during year‑end close; management corrected the amounts when the auditors raised the issues. Josh Eady of Plant Moran said the finding likely related to recent staff turnover in the finance office and recommended additional internal review during the year‑end close and capitalization process. The firm also reported no noncompliance findings on the city’s federal awards after testing ARPA and other federal grants totaling about $4.7 million in the year.

Councilmembers asked about the city’s unfunded pension and OPEB liabilities, capitalization thresholds for federal‑funded assets, and the size of the year‑end budget variance. Plant Moran said large estimates (pension/OPEB) are typical actuarial estimates, that capitalization thresholds are a local policy choice (and may merit review given federal grant rules), and that the roughly $31.1 million favorable variance from budget largely reflected timing of capital purchases and vacant positions. Richard Fox, city controller, answered several technical questions, including that some equipment purchases were financed by bond proceeds, which affected the timing of budgeted expenditures.

After the presentation and Q&A the council voted to receive and file the audit report.

The audit presentation and council discussion included the audit report, federal award supplement, and the auditor’s management letter; Plant Moran provided the annual comprehensive financial report and a graphical slide deck summarizing revenue and expenditure trends.

Votes and next steps: council accepted the auditors’ report and directed staff to consider the auditors’ recommendations about capitalization thresholds and internal review around year‑end closing procedures. Auditors said corrective action plans were submitted and will be reviewed in next year’s audit work.