by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
An auditor presented a rave review of the city of Sartell’s financial management in 2015 at the last city council meeting and noted, once again, that the city has the lowest tax rate of the five area cities in the greater St. Cloud area.
Steve Wischmann of the auditing firm of BerganKDV repeatedly used words like “excellent,” “very good” and “great” as he gave an overview of the audit and its results. He also praised Sartell City Administrator Mary Degiovanni and the city staff for the hard work of preparing all materials for BerganKDV’s extensive audit process.
Wischmann said there were no material weaknesses in the city’s handling of its finances and that it does a cost-efficient job of providing for the needs of residents, which is not easy to do in such a growing city.
Wischmann did say, as a previous audit noted, that Sartell has limited segregation of its accounting duties, but he added internal controls of the accounting are very good, and he did not recommend changes other than to keep up with diligent oversight of the process daily and monthly.
Sartell, he said, has done an excellent job of following government-auditing standards.
Revenue and expenditures have remained remarkably consistent and stable during the past five years, Wischmann noted.
Revenues for the general fund increased by $700,000 in comparison to those of 2014 to $6,269,000, a 12.6 percent increase. That increase came mainly from such sources as permits, fees, fines and the like.
The tax-capacity rate increased slightly, from 37.8 to 38.9, but it’s still well below the rates of other cities in the area, Wischmann added.
Expenditures from the general fund increased only 1.7 percent in 2015, up $83,000. Property taxes were up by $474,000.
Thanks to a mild winter and savings on fuel and salt, there was a savings of about $100,000 by the Public Works Department, Wischmann noted.
“You’ve done a very good job maintaining expenditures,” he told the council, adding the city’s fund balance is very healthy for a growing city. Revenues were over budget; expenditures were under budget.
He also praised the city for not relying on local government aid, which was severely cut some years ago. Last year, Sartell received only $130,000 in LGA.
“You are being very effective with your tax dollars for the services you provide to the residents,” Wischmann said.
