City gets clean audit report

I think we’ve come up with some improvements to filter out some of the job duties and having some other people do that, but they just don’t find it at the level that they’re not going to write it up. I’ve never had an audit that didn’t have it in it.”

Peggy Steffensmeier, City Finance Director

FORT MADISON – The City of Fort Madison got a strong audit report for the last fiscal year.
At Tuesday’s regular City Council meeting, the city’s independent auditing firm presented its findings in reviewing the fiscal year from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023. The audit was conducted by KerganBDV out of Cedar Rapids and Coralville and the report was delivered by Andrew Grice.
The city was given an unmodified opinion which is the highest opinion a firm can give based on the city’s accounting procedures.
The city was gigged for some overlapping responsibilities in accounting functions, but that notation is very common for smaller and rural communities and counties, according to Finance Director Peggy Steffensmeier.
“I would guess 75% of every audit in the state of Iowa gets cited for that,” said City Finance Director Peggy Steffensmeier.
Councilwoman Rebecca Bowker asked if the city were looking into ways to get that mark off the audit and Steffensmeier said the city has instituted improvements, but it’s never good enough to stay out of the audit.
“I think we’ve come up with some improvements to filter out some of the job duties and having some other people do that, but they just don’t find it at the level that they’re not going to write it up. I’ve never had an audit that didn’t have it in it.”
Mayor Matt Mohrfeld said he agreed with the analysis and said, even as a supervisor, that notation on the audits was always included.
“Thirty years ago, when I was on the Board of Supervisors, every audit had that exact same thing. I just started accusing them of randomly putting it on there,” said Mayor Matt Mohrfeld.
“They say with staffs of certain size you just can’t find enough redundancy.”
Mohrfeld said he was happy to give the council a chance to look over the audit before filing it with a vote.
“Over the years, one thing we haven’t really cared for is that we’ve been handed these audits at the meeting, we receive and file them without any real clear discussion and explanation.”
Mohrfeld said he asked the firm to go over the audit with the council in open session.
The auditors come in and review the underlying financial statements of the city and financial procedures and issues an opinion on how well the city is doing according to accounting principals.
The firm also reported deficit fund balances. The city airport fund was functioning at a deficit level at the end of the fiscal year, but grants have come in since that time. However, since the fund was in deficit at the end of the fiscal year, it was noted on the report.
The report was accepted and filed with a 7-0 vote.
In other action, the council:
• approved a contract with Fort Madison Beautficiation to accept a potential Community Development Block Grant that could bring in funds to help rehabilitate selected facades in the downtown business district. Tim Gobble, treasurer of the Beautification committee, said the grant would help rehab six to eight downtown facades which could include sides of buildings as well as fronts. The grant would come through the Iowa Economic Development Authority.
• approved filing for a grant through the State Recreational Trails program to help fund Phase IV P.O.R.T. Trail improvements. The grant would not cost the city anything, and the city would serve as a pass-through for the funds.
• approved a motion to start the search process for a new city clerk. Current City Clerk, Melinda Blind has announced her retirement and said she would like to have a minimum of three months to ensure a smooth transition. The position will be posted publicly, but there are some internal candidates. Posting the position allows for more transparency in the process.