Audit reveals Bloomfield Township in good shape

By Dana Casadei

The UHY independent audit of the Bloomfield Township March 31, 2023, financial statements gave the municipality its highest level of opinion and was unanimously accepted by the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees at their Monday night meeting on October 23. 

“It’s always nice to get good grades,” said trustee Valerie Murray regarding the audit results, which were consistent with the year prior. 

Michael Santicchia, partner, and Marlene Beach, principal, both of UHY, LLP, presented the audit, focusing on the township’s governmental activities, business-type activities, noting each major fund and the aggregate remaining fund information.

Santicchia noted they were giving the township the highest level of opinion they could with an audit.

Funds looked at included the township’s general fund, road fund, public safety fund, and many more, including the recent addition of the opioid settlement fund. This fund’s focus is on fighting the opioid crisis, and is used to account for the revenues and expenditures related to the

settlements received from distributors and manufacturers of opioids.

The amount received for the opioid settlement fund is from a percentage of the amount of the nationwide settlement that is allocated to Michigan. And while there were no significant audit adjustments, there was an adjustment to record the present value of future opioid settlements.

Getting further into the numbers from the audit, Beach discussed the dip in Bloomfield Township’s pension funding status from 90.03 percent to 83.42 percent, while pointing out it still makes it one of the highest in the state, and commented that they saw a similar dip with other municipalities. 

There were also increases in the general fund revenues, due in part to rising taxes and state revenue sharing, and there was an increase in the general fund expenditures. 

As far as receivables go – the money coming into the township – the grant from the American Rescue Plan Act (APRA) was one of the largest at $4,407,946. Part of this grant has already been allocated for plans across multiple township departments, including a ladder truck for the fire department, estimated at $1,783,500.

Some of the other largest noted capital purchases for the township included safety path construction, safety equipment, and improvements to water and sewer infrastructure. 

Beach emphasized that the water and sewer expenditures – which went from $23,539,483 to $24,576,378 – were very consistent with no major swings. 

In regards to the public safety fund revenue, everything was identical from last year, except for the rise in taxes.

Multiple times throughout the presentation Santicchia said that their job was easy to complete on time because of the work of Jason Theis, township finance director, and his team, making for a seamless process. 

Treasurer Michael Schostak asked if they found any concerns on a fraud basis while doing the audit. Beach noted that they had not, and that they take that into consideration during the audit process, done through UHY conducting fraud interviews with management and a board trustee.

Beach also said that they had no concerns about the audit overall.