By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com

The City of Brighton has received a positive audit report, earning the cleanest opinion an auditor can give regarding a municipality’s financial recording.

Brighton City Council, this week, received their annual presentation of audit results and the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report from Plante Moran. The City received an “unmodified opinion,” which is the highest level of assurance that a firm like Plante Moran can provide as to the accuracy of financial statements. This marks the 33rd consecutive year that Brighton has achieved this.

The city also received its 12th straight Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association. This shows that they went beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles to prepare reports that exude the spirit of transparency and full disclosure.

City of Brighton Finance Director and President of the Michigan Government Finance Officers Association Gretchen Gomolka said, in a release, that this year presented unique challenges in navigating the audit in a fully remote environment, and that she was very proud of her team’s ability to adjust.

A major point of the report was confirming financial savings made through renegotiating the City’s pension and retiree health care costs in 2019. City Manager Nate Geinzer said they have an exceptional group of employees who were able to see the City was not on a sustainable path with that, and recognized that reform now would better protect their future benefits.

Mayor Shawn Pipoly thanked City staff for their hard work and all residents and businesses for their support.