Late for Second Year in a Row, Stewart City Hall Reports Completion of 2023 Audit

The administration of Mayor Stewart (R) is reporting that the audit for the 2023 budget year, nearly six months late, according to state law, is ready. The six month late report follows another, nearly year-late report from the previous budget year.

A report from Stewart administration Finance Director Jonathan M. Perugini to the City Council says, “that the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2023 has been submitted to Mayor Erin E. Stewart and the Common Council of the City of New Britain.”

According to state law, the report appears to have been due by the end of December of 2023.

The late audit report for the city budget year that was from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 follows an even later audit report for the budget year that was from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022. That, fiscal year 2022, report was due in December of 2022 and was nearly a year late, filed in December of 2023.

The lateness of the 2021 to 2022 budget year report prompted a stern letter to Stewart from the state Office of Policy and Management, on September 12, 2023, that said,

This letter of noncompliance is being sent on behalf of the Municipal Finance Advisory Commission (MFAC). Statutorily, the municipality’s June 30, 2022, audit report was to have been submitted to the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) by December 31, 2022, but remains outstanding as of the date of this letter. The City of New Britain is eligible for Tier I designation under Section 7-395d of the General Statutes from not having submitted its June 30, 2022 Financial and State Single Audit Reports within 12 months of its fiscal year end.

Once it was filed, the fiscal year 2022 audit report noted that the city’s taxpayer debt jumped by 11% between the 2021 and 2022 budget years, from $292.5 million to $325.1 million, an increase of $32.6 million. Among other findings, auditors said they found a, “Material Weakness in Internal Control over Financial Reporting,” because, “The City’s bank reconciliations were not completed for over a year after the end of the fiscal year.”

In January, the Council established a Council Audit Subcommittee, which the Council’s Majority Leader, Ald. John McNamara (D-4) says is intended to assert a stronger role of the Council in selecting the independent auditors for the city and reviewing their findings.

Editor’s note (7/5/2024): The article was updated based on newly available information.