The City of Howell has received another glowing audit report.

The City received an “unqualified” opinion, indicating the statements fairly present the financial position of the City’s activities. The City has earned the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting for the 11th consecutive year and Rehmann Robson issued a clean audit opinion. The City has had clean audits for the last several years, and received numerous excellence in financial reporting awards.

City Manager Shea Charles says the clean audit was resented by Rehman Robson and they are in line for the Government Finance Officers Association Award for excellence in financial reporting for the 12th year in a row. Charles says he’s excited about that and it’s a testament to the quality of the financial staff and the rest of the team in regard to how they handle and manage the resources of the city.

The 2018 audit report was accepted following a presentation during a recent City Council meeting. During the audit presentation, Mark Kettner from the Rehmann Robson firm again commended the City, management team, and Finance Director Catherine Stanislawski, saying they operate very efficiently. Despite the positive news regarding the audit, the City is still dealing with major budget and revenue challenges. That is coupled with what officials say is a very broken state fiscal model and reduced revenue sharing, and significant cuts have been made over the years. (JM)