Riverside’s financial statements for 2023 have come back clean, according to the village’s independent audit firm.
At its June 20 meeting, the Riverside village board voted to accept the village’s annual comprehensive financial report for 2023 following an independent audit as required by Illinois law. The audit, which was completed by Naperville-based firm Lauterbach & Amen, LLP, showed Riverside’s total equity went up in 2023 compared to 2022 and earned the village a certificate of achievement for its financial statements.
The award, recognizing Riverside’s “excellence in financial reporting,” was granted to the village by the Government Finance Officers Association, which has represented public finance officials in the United States and Canada since 1906. Lauterbach & Amen partner Jamie Wilkey, who was at the board’s June 20 meeting, called the GFOA’s award “the highest level of reporting you can have” compared to the “basic” independent audit that state law requires of municipalities.
According to a letter by Village Manager Jessica Frances that opened the nearly 170-page report, the certificate of achievement that the village received this year is its 33rd in the past 34 years. Wilkey told trustees that Lauterbach & Amen plan to submit Riverside’s 2024 audit for another certificate of achievement, as the firm as a “100% retention rate” for the award.
Aside from the certificate, other highlights from the report show that “it was a positive year for the village,” as Wilkey said. As of the end of last year, Riverside’s total net position — that is, the difference between the village’s financial assets and liabilities — was $29,224,602, representing an increase of about 3% and about $900,000 compared to 2022. The total balance of the village’s eight governmental funds rose about $950,000 for a total of $9,685,303 in 2023.
Additionally, Finance Director Yvette Zavala said at the meeting that Riverside’s general fund “ended the year with a surplus balance of $232,524,” which will remain unassigned so it can be used to fund capital improvement projects in the village’s future.
In Lautenbach & Amen’s audit, Wilkey said the firm found that Riverside’s financial statements met its highest level of scrutiny.
“There are really two goals each year when we come in to conduct the audit. Number one is to issue an opinion on the materiality of the financial statements,” Wilkey said at the meeting. “We have issued what we call an unmodified, or clean, audit opinion. That is the highest level we can issue to the village each year, and, again, that indicates that the financial statements are materially correct.”
The second goal of the auditing process, she added, is to look at the village’s internal policies and procedures and double-check the accuracy of its provided financial statements.
“We engage in third-party confirmation of significant balances. We look to ensure that the staff has the appropriate supporting documentation, for example, for certain balances and transactions,” Wilkey said. “Certainly, through that detailed testing, if there were any areas of concern or red flags, we would unfortunately have to have that conversation tonight, but I’m happy to report we had no such findings.”
