The city of Fayetteville has

again received a "clean" audit from the accounting firm who

evaluated its financial data for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2003.

This year, the presentation

of the audit differed because of new accounting standards required by

law, said Miller Edwards of the Macon accounting firm Mauldin and Jenkins.

Edwards made a brief presentation to the city council Thursday night about

the audit, and he encouraged council members to call him with any questions

they might have after reading over the information he provided.

"We have no findings,"

Edwards said, adding that "nothing alarming" was discovered

in the audit review conducted by the firm.

One of the major changes in

the city's budget will evolve over the next several years as the

city is allowed to tally streets along with curbs and gutters as fixed

assets. That's a part of the new law that will allow the city's

estimated assets to grow, Edwards explained.

Mayor Ken Steele cracked, "So

there's not much of a market for curbs and gutters?"

Edwards said the audit breaks

down the city's expenses into two basic categories: governmental

and "business-type." The governmental expenses account for most

of the city's activities, including public safety, public works and

other general government activities. The "business-type" category

reflects activities the city charges user fees for such as water and sewer

operations, Edwards said.

The audit also features a new

section called "Management's Discussion and Analysis" which

can provide interesting insight into the city's financal status,

Edwards added.

According to the audit, tax

revenues accounted for 73.2 percent of the city's total revenues

for the year, while charges for services, grants, contributions, fines

and forfeitures provided 26.8 percent of the city's revenues. While

the city collected $7.5 million in revenues for its general fund, property

taxes accounted for just $1.354 million of the revenues. The city also

collected $2.02 million in sales taxes.

Back

to News Home Page |