City of Kannapolis issued the following announcement on Jan. 20.
The City of Kannapolis recently received recognition that its financial health is strong. The City received an award for its budget and a “clean audit” both indicators of the financial strength of the City.
First, The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has presented the Distinguished Budget Award to the City of Kannapolis. This is the 21st consecutive year the City has received this honor.
The award is given to municipalities who publish a budget that is a policy document, an operations guide, a financial plan and is used as a communications device. The Kannapolis budget was found to be proficient in those four categories and met 14 mandatory criteria in order to achieve the award.
The GFOA recognized the budget document for its good discussion of the City’s long-range financial plan, including a good summary of revenues and expenditures, and a multi-year financial forecast through 2026. The budget also includes long-range financial plans for the City’s operating budget including forecasts, trends, or other data reflective of the City operating budgets for at least three years beyond the budget period.
Secondly, the City’s recent audit report of its finances shows the City is financially sound and therefore received a “clean” or “unmodified” opinion. The unmodified opinion from the auditors of Martin and Starnes, an independent auditing firm, means the City has no weaknesses, no issues and no findings that would signal any problems with the financial health of the City.
The audit report found the City has a healthy fund balance (savings account) and a stable property tax base which continues to grow. The state requires Kannapolis have a minimum of eight percent of the general fund in the fund balance in case of emergencies or unexpected expenses. Kannapolis currently has 30.7% or 16 weeks of operating expenses in the fund balance account. (It is the City’s policy to maintain between 25-33% in fund balance).
The City receives an audit each year in order to meet legal requirements, to be transparent and to ensure there are no issues with the accounting procedures of the municipality.
For more information on the City’s Budget and Audit go to – https://www.kannapolisnc.gov/Government-Departments/Finance
Original source can be found here.
