By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
The amount of money on the City of Whitewater’s tax rolls has increased slowly, but steadily, as new property development continues to move on a similar upward trajectory.
The revelation the city collected $3.07 million in taxes in 2014 — up from the $2.85 million in taxes collected five years ago — was among the highlights of the city’s 2014 audit report, which was presented to the Common Council on May 19.
The overall report was good news for city officials as the economy continues to inch upward.
Madison-based certified public accounting firm Johnson Block and Company Inc. was hired by the city to comb through Whitewater’s municipal books from the past year. As with all municipalities, Whitewater is required by law to have its financial statements audited by an outside firm.
“The financial statement disclosures are neutral, consistent and clear,” company representatives wrote in a letter to the city. “We encountered no significant difficulties in dealing with management in performing and completing our audit.”
Repeating an oft-heard statement given to municipalities of Whitewater’s size, auditors expressed one concern about internal controls. Ideally, Johnson Block representatives said the city should have a greater segregation of duties at city hall so more people have oversight of the city’s books.
Because of the size of staffing at city hall, however, such a scenario is not always possible — a fact readily recognized by Johnson Block.
At the same time, the company encouraged city staff and elected officials to consider options down the road. The existing scenario can “result in a more than remote likelihood that a material misstatement will not be prevented or detected by the city’s internal control,” as stated in the letter.
There have not been any recent documented cases of financial mismanagement within the city.
