Clean and unmodified. That’s the audit finding for the city of Benton Harbor by auditing firm Rehmann [[ ray-men ]] Robson, their best rating. Benton Harbor City Commissioners heard the annual audit report on Tuesday night during a meeting. Auditor Paul Matz said the city’s fund balance, or cash on hand, went down by $260,000 for the year ending June 30, 2020. However, the amended budget had anticipated a decrease of $683,000, and some COVID funds that have come in from the state may not have been received by the audit date. When asked by Mayor Marcus Muhammad what grade he would give the city’s finances, Matz said he would give them something in the B range.
“I think you’ve come a tremendous way,” Matz said. “From looking back at financial statements over the past ten years, you’ve certainly seen some significant improvements in the general fund position.”
Matz said the city still has about eight months of operating expenses saved, and no major issues have been found. Moving forward, Matz recommended city leaders make sure duties are kept separated and best practices maintained with people working remotely.
