Per Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) 354.624, all Nevada local governments must provide for an annual audit by a professional accounting firm.  The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) is the report representing the City’s compliance with state law.  A request for proposal to perform the annual external audit for the City was put out to bid in December of 2014, and a three year contract with an option to extend for up to three additional years was awarded to Eide Bailly, LLP beginning with fiscal year 2014-2015.

In addition, NRS 354.6245 and NAC 354.721 require that Council advise the Department of Taxation what action has been, or will be, taken to prevent recurrence of NRS violations related to our annual audit.

The major sections of the CAFR are as follows:

• The Introductory Section which includes the Financial Services Director’s letter of transmittal that discusses items such as how the CAFR is presented, the profile of the City’s government, general economic conditions, and significant financial policies;

• The Financial Section includes the independent auditor’s report on the financial statement, management’s discussion and analysis (MD&A), and the government-wide and individual fund financial statements;

• The Statistical Section includes schedules of statistics showing financial trends, revenue capacity, debt capacity, demographic and economic information, and relevant operating information;

• The Compliance Section includes the independent auditor’s reports on internal control over financial reporting, and the City’s compliance with requirements applicable to each major federal grant program.  This section also includes the schedule of expenditures of all federal grant awards, and the schedule of the independent auditors’ findings and questioned costs.  The fiscal year 2015 audit findings, recommendations, and management responses are listed and described in detail on pages 163-168 of the attached CAFR.  Per NRS 354.624(9), the Council must either accept management’s responses to the auditor recommendations as listed in the Compliance Section of the CAFR, or adopt them with modifications, or reject them with reasons as to why they are rejected;

• The Auditor’s Comments Section is a brief section including reports from the independent auditors concerning state statute compliance and certain recommendations.

As can be seen in the independent auditor’s report on the City’s financial statement located within the Financial Section of the CAFR, the independent auditors have given an unmodified opinion stating that the City’s fiscal year 2014-2015 financial statements as presented in the CAFR are materially correct and fairly present the financial results and position of the City.  An unmodified opinion represents a “clean” audit opinion and is the highest level that can be obtained.

The independent auditor’s finding are presented and discussed in detail within the Compliance Section of the CAFR for all interested parties to review.  In addition, representatives from Eide Bailly, LLP will be on-hand should members of the City Council have specific questions concerning their audit findings or procedures, or other information within the CAFR.

In addition to receiving an unmodified opinion for fiscal year 2014-2015 financial statements, the previous fiscal year 2013-2014 was the thirty fourth year in a row that the Government Finance Officers Association awarded a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to the City of Sparks.  The Finance Department believes the current report continues to conform to the program’s requirements, and will submit the fiscal year 2014-2015 report for consideration of the award.

Plan of Corrective Action and Distribution to Interested Parties:

Our auditors' conclusions regarding the City of Sparks' compliance with Nevada Revised Statues and Administrative Code (NRS/NAC) as identified in the annual audit process are listed and described in detail in Note 2 to the Financial Statements which can be found on pages 50-51 of the attached CAFR.  I’m pleased to inform you that there were no violations of NRS/NAC reported and therefore no need to submit a plan of corrective action.

The CAFR will be submitted to the Department of Taxation, in accordance with NAC 354.725, upon Council approval to distribute to interested parties.

The Council may choose not to accept the CAFR but in so doing must provide alternatives to address the audit findings as listed in the Compliance Section (pages 163-168) within 3 months of today’s meeting.

I move to accept the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for fiscal year 2014-2015 as presented and authorize the Financial Services Director to distribute to interested parties as necessary.