In October 2023 both the New Britain Progressive and the New Britain Herald reported that the City of New Britain has failed to submit its 2022 financial audit report on time and was 10 months late. The city indicated it would submit its report by Halloween, but it has missed that deadline as well and by now it is almost a year late.
What are the implications of late submission of financial audit reports to the State of Connecticut? The September 12, 2023, Office of Policy and Management letter to mayor Stewart says:
Audits must be completed in a timely manner for management of the municipality, the governing board, and its citizens to make informed decisions that can be critical to the municipality’s financial plan. Furthermore, significantly late audits, often impact the timing of the subsequent year’s audit completion.
Indeed, the lack of financial audit reports prevents the city finance department and the city council of full information about the city’s budget situation and increases the likelihood of inaccurately planning of future annual budgets. Second, it may reduce the city’s bond ratings. Currently, the City of New Britain S&P credit rating is A- (Where AAA is “extremely strong, AA is very strong, A is strong, and BBB is adequate). This relatively low rating might result in higher rates of future bonding initiatives which will increase the city of New Britain’s debt payments.
An October 13, 2023, Connecticut Examiner article about Stamford’s late audit report suggests that a late audit reporting reduces the confidence of the state, credit agencies, banks, and the citizens of the city’s finances. It appears that New Britain might be heading the same direction as well.
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