The city’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and independent auditor’s report will be reviewed by the City Commission during Tuesday’s meeting.

The reports require Commission acceptance so that staff can file the required reports by the six month end of year deadline, as required by state statute, and bond covenants. The city’s fiscal year ended June 30.

The City’s Audit Committee met Dec. 1 and recommends that the commission accept the reports.

The committee includes Mayor Bob Kelly, City Manager Greg Doyon, Finance Director Melissa Kinzler, Commissioner Tracy Houck and Jeremy Trebas and Mary Ellen Kropp as the two appointed citizens.

This is the second year of a three-year audit contract with Anderson ZurMuehlen & Co., P.C.. The firm was awarded the audit contract for fiscal years 2016, 2017 and 2018 at the May 3, 2016 commission meeting. The contract is between Anderson ZurMuehlen, the city, the Montana Department of Administration’s Local Government Services Bureau.

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The auditor’s made one recommendation, that the city adopt written guidelines from federal rules on the collection of federal funds and minimizing time held; determining the allowability of costs under applicable cost principles and grant terms; documentation of the entity’s decision to utilize the three-year grace period to adopt procurement standards must be included in the entity’s internal procurement policies; and documentation of how time and effort charged to grants will be documented in the entity’s records.

In the city’s response letter, the city indicated it will adopt those guidelines.

The FY 2016-2017 CAFR will be submitted to the Government Finance Officers Association’s Certificate of Achievement Program for review.

The prior year’s CAFR was submitted and awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, according to the city.

The City has received this certification every year since fiscal year 1993-1994 and staff expects to receive the same certification again this year since all comments and recommendations made by GFOA for improvement were implemented in this CAFR, according to the city.

The CAFR Document is a 200-page bound document and is available in the Finance Department, Civic Center Room 104 or in the City Clerk’s Office Room 204. It is also available on the city website.