An audit of the city of Marthasville’s finances shows no issues with the city’s financial reporting and shows the city spending down its bank accounts on public improvement projects.
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An audit of the city of Marthasville’s finances shows no issues with the city’s financial reporting and shows the city spending down its bank accounts on public improvement projects.
The audit, performed by accounting firm Spinner & Kummer of St. Louis in November 2020, shows a detailed overview of the city’s fiscal year ending in June 2020. The firm said all financial activities were accurately reported in statements provided by the Marthasville city government.
In a breakdown of Marthasville’s revenue and expenses for 2019-2020, the audit shows the city spent down its bank accounts by about $584,000. The audit primarily splits those expenses between the city’s water/sewer fund which is financed by direct service charges, and other operating funds that are financed by taxes and other fees.
For the city’s more general operations, the audit shows Marthasville took in about $737,000 in revenue, most notably from taxes, trash service fees, and $218,000 in grant revenue.
Daily operating expenses cost the city about $477,000 in the fiscal year.
In that same time period, the city spent $797,000 on capital improvements not related to the water and sewer systems, the audit shows. Major projects included the Fifth Street extension, Highway D sidewalk construction, Pecan Street repaving, and construction of a new machine shed behind city hall. The city also added an excavator and a brine machine to its equipment inventory, according to the report.
Despite bringing Marthasville’s bank balance down, the audit notes that the city still has a substantially healthy reserve of almost $796,000. Auditors noted that Marthasville’s accounts remain well above the city’s target for emergency reserve funding.
“The city’s primary objective is to maintain a prudent level of financial resources to protect against reducing service levels or raising taxes and fees due to temporary revenue shortfalls or unpredicted one-time expenditures,” the audit notes.
For Marthasville’s water and sewer funds, the audit shows revenues of nearly $298,000, while operating costs totaled over $353,000. That includes $101,000 for sewer line extension and improvements that were completed in 2019-2020, along with $37,000 for similar improvements in the water system.
