LELAND — The Town of Leland’s fiscal year 2018-2018 audit is in, and according to auditors, the town is in a strong financial position.
Stuart Hill of Thompson, Price, Scott, Adams & Co, P.A told councilmembers Leland ranks in the “top few” compared to other municipalities the firm reviews.
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“From our perspective, things seem to be moving smoothly,” Hill said at the town’s last regular meeting of the year.
Though the audit reports significant dips in certain areas, including available fund balance and net position, Hill attributed the decreases to Hurricane Florence related spending and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursement process.
By next audit, the percentage of available fund balance should creep back up, Hill said.
A municipality’s total fund balance compared to expenditures is commonly used as a financial indicator for local governments. State law requires tax-levying governments to maintain a fund balance of at least 8% and the Local Government Commission will initiate a review of a municipality’s financial statements if this percentage is 50% below the average of comparable local governments.
At the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2019, Leland’s percentage of total fund balance was 59.3%. This marks a sharp drop from the previous fiscal year which ended June 2018 with an 84.4% total fund balance.
The Town of Leland’s fund balance percentage goal is 35%, so even with the storm-related setbacks, the town is still well above its threshold.
With a property tax rate about half the rate of comparable towns, Leland had a record collection rate this past fiscal year at 99.4%.
View the town’s full 2018-2019 audit report.
Send tips and comments to Johanna Ferebee Still at johanna@localvoicemedia.com
