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By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

CHELSEA – The city of Chelsea is in good standing after receiving the highest possible score on its latest financial audit.

During a regularly scheduled Chelsea City Council meeting on Tuesday, July 1 at Chelsea City Hall, the council unanimously approved a resolution to accept the city’s municipal audit for fiscal year 2024.

The audit, performed by Dent Moses LLP, reported an unqualified opinion to Chelsea, which indicates that the city reported all of its financial information and transactions fairly and in the correct manner.

During the pre-council meeting one hour before the actual meeting began, Wayne Barber, chief financial officer for the city of Chelsea, presented the audit to the council and went through numbers that stuck out to him upon his review.

Each year, all cities in the state of Alabama are required to have an annual financial audit performed by an independent certified public accountant to ensure finances are reported to the government fairly and honestly.

Barber discussed that some might people might look at the audit from this year and say the city suffered a loss, wondering why that is. However, he clarified that the reason behind that stems from the city using educational money and capital project money for projects that are restricted, having to use money taken in by bonds over time

With the money taken in by bonds, numbers might show that the city would profit in the year it bought the bonds, but show a loss in the year it was used. As a result, Barber stated that there should no concern about a one-year loss for Chelsea.

The financial officer also discussed how the audit went about being performed what the city’s particular result means in the grand scheme of its reputation.

“They completed that audit about a couple of weeks back and presented it,” Barber said. “We got an unqualified opinion, which is the opinion that people want to see. That means that we followed the rules. It lets the bankers, the grant people and the public know that we did what we were supposed to in regards to reporting the financial information.”

An unqualified opinion serves as the highest possible score a city can receive in the review, which makes for something positive for the citizens to look at when it comes to how their money is being used.

“It means that you can rely on what the numbers say so that you can tell what kind of financial shape the city is in, so that you can know if we’re using the public money in a wise and prudent way,” Barber said.

In addition to the audit being accepted by the Chelsea City Council, a resolution was also approved authorizing Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer to execute a memorandum of agreement with Shelby County for the use of their electronic voting machines, which will be used during the upcoming municipal election on Aug. 26.