by Dennis Dalman
The City of Sartell received a generally excellent financial audit report for the year 2021 at the May 9 city-council meeting.
An overview of the extensive audit by the financial firm of BerganKDV was presented by an employee of that company.
The following are highlights of her presentation:
Sartell has the lowest tax rate of the five area cities, a ranking it has maintained for many years.
Total city revenues for 2021 were $8,116,776 with that money coming from property taxes, fees, charges for permits, the regional half-cent sales tax, grants and contributions and $331,003 of local state aid.
The general-fund expenditures for 2021 were $7,883,370, which was $744,833 more than in 2020. The biggest expense was for Public Safety (police, fire), which increased by 18 percent in 2021 due to adding more employees and wages and benefits.
Parks and Recreation also increased due to expenses for utilities, cleaning, repairs and maintenance.
Public Works decreased by $84,910 because of a decrease in the need for buying salt and a decrease in seal-coating and repairs paid for from the general fund.
The city maintains a healthy fund balance of $4,540,865, something that its city policy requires.
The audit does recommend the city introduce an “adequate segregation of accounting duties,” meaning that more than one person should handle financial data.
Calling the lack of adequate segregation a “significant deficiency,” the report goes on to state it cold possibly affect the city’s ability to initiate, record, process and report financial data consistent with the assertions of management in the financial statements.
The report does not assert any wrongdoing but does state that the lack of financial-data segregation could possibly pose risks. The report also states Sartell city staff will review options for further segregation in the handling of financial data and assign duties consistent with a strengthened segregation after the review is completed.
