CPA John Trussalo (right) goes over the final numbers for fiscal year 2017 with the Jamestown City Council during its Sept. 10, 2018 meeting.
JAMESTOWN – The city of Jamestown’s independent audit for 2017 confirms the city finished in a better financial position than what had been budgeted for that year.
That’s the news from independent auditor and public account John Trussalo, who went over the final 2017 budget numbers with the council during a presentation on Monday night.
Trussalo’s audit confirmed the numbers that city comptroller Joe Bellitto had provided for the council earlier this year. According to Trussalo, the city saw $35,855,000 in revenue and $34,519,000 in expenditures. That was $621,000 more in revenue and $716,000 less in expenses than what had been budgeted. As a result, the city finished 2017 with a positive difference of $1,337,000.
During his audit, Trussalo also pointed out the city has some serious financial challenges, including the fact its constitutional taxing limit for 2017 was at 100 percent, meaning it won’t be able to raise taxes to offset rising costs associated with salaries and healthcare and pension benefits for employees.
Other findings in the audit included the city finishing the year with a debt of $17.38 million, placing it at 32.35 percent of its maximum debt limit. He said during 2017 the brought on an additional $400,000 in debt while also paying off $1.58 million in debt. He said if the city took on no more debt and if it kept with its current payment schedule, the city would be debt-free within 17 years.
The audit was also a clean audit, meaning there were no discrepancies found in regard to how the city was managing and overseeing is finances.
Leave a Reply