Williamsport's Finance Committee on Sept. 30 heard presentation of the city's fiscal year 2023 audit, in which independent auditors reported an unmodified opinion for the city's primary government but an adverse opinion for the parking authority component unit, officials said.

The audit presentation, led by representatives of audit firm Zelenkowski & Axelrod, delivered the key finding up front. "We are pleased to be able to present an unmodified opinion over your primary government," Kim Stank, a representative of Zelenkowski & Axelrod, told the committee. Stank and a colleague reviewed the government-wide and fund financial statements with committee members and city finance staff.

The audit matters because an unmodified opinion signals the auditors found the city's financial statements for the primary government to be presented fairly. However, the parking authority's overdue audits produced an adverse opinion for that discretely presented component unit, and auditors flagged the reporting-entity issue as a material weakness in the single audit, Stank said.

"Because of the adverse opinion," Stank said, the firm "had to issue a finding," but she emphasized the adverse opinion was limited to the parking authority and not the city's primary government.

Jamie Livermore, from the city's finance office, told the committee staff had worked to reconcile federal reporting and that previously flagged ARPA reporting issues have been corrected. "It matches to the penny now, so we're all good," Livermore said, describing adjustments made after initial ARPA submissions.

Key numbers presented to the committee included: total assets of nearly $82,000,000; deferred outflows of about $7.5 million; liabilities of roughly $151,000,000; deferred inflows of about $42,000,000; and a net position deficit of about $104,000,000. Auditors identified the city's OPEB liability and pension amounts as the primary drivers of the negative net position: the net pension liability was stated at about $17,000,000 and OPEB at about $98,000,000.

On an annual basis, auditors reported a positive change in net position of about $21,000,000 for FY2023. At the fund level the city closed FY2023 with positive fund balances across funds, and the budget-to-actual reconciliation showed a positive net change of about $3,400,000. The pension fund showed an increase in position of about $12,000,000.

The single audit — the federally required audit of major federal programs — produced two findings. The first was the material-weakness finding tied to the reporting-entity adverse opinion arising from the parking authority's missing audits. The second finding related to ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) reporting; city staff and auditors said the ARPA reporting discrepancy has since been corrected and will be reflected in subsequent filings. Auditors reported total federal expenditures of about $12,000,000 for the city in FY2023, with roughly $11.6 million tied to ARPA and about $500,000 to Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) activity.

Committee members pressed for clarity about the parking authority's audit backlog. Stank said the parking authority appeared to be behind as far back as 2019 and that auditors had proposed a scope to the authority earlier in the year but had not received confirmation the work would proceed. "We had talked to them in, I think, June or July and sent them a proposal. And I have followed up several times, but I have not heard," Stank said.

Committee members and staff discussed next steps. Liz Meeley, a finance committee member who called the meeting to order, suggested council follow up directly with the parking authority to determine the missing years and the entity’s plans to contract for and complete the overdue audits. Committee members and city staff noted creditors typically review the auditor’s opinion letter and that having an unmodified opinion for the primary government should reduce, but not eliminate, potential lender concerns about the parking authority issue.

City finance staff said a request for proposals (RFP) for audits covering 2024–2026 is open, with an RFP deadline of Oct. 6, 2025. Staff said they expect to start the next audits promptly after the RFP process concludes and that the city's goal remains to complete the FY2025 audit by Sept. 30, 2026.

No formal committee vote on the FY2023 audit acceptance is recorded in the meeting transcript. Committee members asked for a deeper review at the next full meeting; if no additional questions were raised, the chair indicated the committee would move on to the next agenda item.

The audit presentation concluded with auditors and staff answering technical questions about footnotes, internal service funds and custodial funds. Auditors praised city staff for bringing the primary government's audits current after several years of delays.

Next steps identified during the meeting included following up with the parking authority about its contracted auditor status and completing the RFP process for the 2024–2026 audits. Committee members signaled interest in further discussion at an upcoming meeting to review the full audit package in greater detail.

(Reporting from a Williamsport Finance Committee meeting; no formal vote on the FY2023 audit acceptance is recorded in the available transcript.)