Estes Park town audit comes back clean for 2025, board accepts it

The Estes Park Town Board accepted the town's 2025 audit and annual comprehensive financial report on Oct. 27. The auditor said Haney and Company reported no deficiencies in internal control.

Staff told the board the town received an unmodified, or clean, opinion, meaning its financial statements fairly present its financial position under generally accepted accounting principles. The auditor said Haney and Company found no major audit adjustments. The auditor also said the single audit, a federal-funds review, produced no findings on compliance or internal control over the programs reviewed.

The audit was late this year. Trustee Chris Eshelman asked whether that was because another reporting entity delivered its audit late and whether strong efforts were under way to prevent a repeat. A town official confirmed both and said the housing authority was giving high-level attention to avoiding the same timing problem next year. The auditor said the opinion was issued Sept. 30 and covers governmental activities, business-type activities, each major fund, all non-major funds and the two component units.

Staff presented the 2025 report, which covers the town's financial operations along with the Estes Park Housing Authority and Visit Estes Park. Haney and Company conducted the independent audit, which staff said was its sixth year doing the town's annual audit. Staff said the cost was within the budget.

A trustee who had served on the Audit Committee recalled deficiencies in at least one earlier year and said they were unsure whether those were material. The trustee then praised staff, saying "that is a big achievement with as big an organization as we have."

The same trustee asked about a difference from budget in the linkage-fee fund. The trustee's understanding was that the revenue is collected and then paid to the Housing Authority because it is pledged to the authority. Staff said the town receives the revenue with a two-month lag and automatically sends the money out. Staff described the linkage-fee funds as having an overage on the expense side that is matched on the revenue side.

The auditor said a few funds exceeded their appropriations. A couple of those were special funds, the auditor said, and they were not over by much and the amounts were not material. The auditor described the audit as risk-based and said revenue is a high-risk area. After evaluating the town's risks under a new accounting standard, GASB 102, the auditor found no concentrations that could have a substantial impact on the financial statements.

The auditor said upcoming accounting statements from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board will change financial reporting disclosures but not how the town accounts for transactions. One of them, Statement 105, will change how material events after the financial statement date are described, the auditor said. The auditor said the report must give the exact report date rather than say information is current through that date, and that the new requirements are expected to be implemented next year.