LYNNWOOD — The city of Lynnwood still needs to do a better job keeping track of its money and assets, state auditors have found.
It was the ninth consecutive problematic audit for the city of 36,000, and the first since Mayor Nicola Smith took office. The city in July 2014 began using a new accounting system and is still getting used to those changes. The conversion to the new system also needs more oversight, auditors found.
The audit did not cite any concerns over the city’s overall financial condition.
The 2014 review by the Washington State Auditor’s Office was shared with the City Council at Monday night’s meeting. The reports, which became final Wednesday, acknowledge that Lynnwood was without a full-time finance director from November 2014 until June.
The city’s net worth is nearly $198 million in all, an increase $8.7 million since 2013.
The general fund is at $17.9 million, a decrease the auditors attributed to how the city accounted for municipal court revenues — including red-light camera tickets — that haven’t been collected and are overdue. The city’s long-term debts also decreased by $1.2 million.
The audit found 10 significant problems that the city hadn’t detected on its own. They’ve since been corrected and mainly involve how the city accounted for assets, such as traffic signals and machinery, worth millions of dollars.
The city plans to devote more resources to keeping track of its finances, in advance of future audits, the report says.
Past audits also had found problems with the finances of the city-owned golf course. Lynnwood last year signed a contract with a private company to run the course. The course’s revenues have since increased, according to the new audit.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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