Township audit shows healthy financials

At the Monday, October 8, board of trustees' meeting, UHY Advisors, Bloomfield Township's financial advisors, presented the audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018, showing that the township is in excellent financial condition.

Michael Santicchia and Marlene Beach, who handle the account for UHY Advisors MI, told trustees, “We audited the financial statements of the governmental activities, business-type activities, the discretely presented component unit, each major fund, and the aggregate remaining information for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018. Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the US. Our responsibility is to express opinions on these financial statements based on our audit.”

One area they noted where there was a change from previous years, was that “This past year, the township adopted the provisions of GASB Statement No. 75, Accounting for Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefits Other Than Pensions (OPES). As a result of implementing this pronouncement, the township's net OPES liability has been recognized on the government-wide and proprietary statements and, as discussed in Note 16 the 2017 financial statements have been restated. Our opinions are not modified with respect to this matter.”

Otherwise, they said the numbers from 2017 to 2018 were “pretty similar,” other than the post employment obligations because of the adoption of GASB.

“I think your staff did an outstanding job – you do an outstanding job every year,” supervisor Leo Savoie said.

Trustees voted 6-0 to accept the audit, with clerk Jan Roncelli not in attendance.