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The official audit for the City of Rockingham for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012, shows the city’s finances on solid ground.

The nearly 80-page audit was presented recently in a report to city officials by CPA Ken Anderson, of Anderson, Smith & Wike, PLLC, an accounting firm in Rockingham.

Anderson described the latest audit as “pretty smooth,” when giving his report to the Rockingham City Council. “Overall, it went well,” said Anderson.

Mayor Pro Tem John Hutchinson commended City Manager Monty Crump and the city staff for another good financial report.

“I want to congratulate the staff for another good audit,” Hutchinson said. He said the report shows “responsible, efficient” management of tax dollars by city staff.

The audit did reveal a couple of areas of non-compliance with North Carolina General Statues.

The first noted that city officials failed to adopt a separate capital project budget for the Discovery Place KIDS-Rockingham project before the start of the project. “The City has subsequently, July 12, 2012, adopted a capital project budget that is sufficient for the duration of the project,” the audit says.

Discovery Place KIDS–Rockingham is under construction downtown. Set to open next month, DPK will offer creative learning-through-play experiences for children and their caregivers.

The Discovery Place KIDS-Rockingham campaign was initiated with a commitment of $6.6 million from the Cole Foundation and the Richmond Community Foundation, gifts that were facilitated by The Foundation For The Carolinas.

The city has budgeted about $3.3 million for this capital project.

Another area of non-compliance dealt with the city and the ABC Board, in how the two pool collateral. “Because of the inability to measure the exact amounts of collateral pledged for the City or the ABC Board under the Pooling Method, the potential exists for undercollateralization, and this risk may increase in period of high cash flows,” the audit says. However, that portion of the audit goes on to say, “The City and the ABC Board comply with the provisions of G.S. 159-31 when designating official depositories and verifying that deposits are properly secured.”

Other highlights of the audit include:

• On June 30, 2012, the city had $906,055 invested with the North Carolina Capital Management Trust’s Cash Portfolio which carried a credit rating of AAA by Standard and Poor’s.

• The assets of the City of Rockingham exceeded its liabilities at the close of the fiscal year by $31,709,048 (net assets).

• The government’s total net assets increased by $1,851,908, due to revenues exceeding expenditures in both fund types.

• At the close of the fiscal year, the city’s governmental funds reported combined ending fund balances of $4,072,920, a decrease of $122,384 in comparison with the prior year. Approximately 45.9 percent of fund balance, or $1,869,614, is available for spending at the government’s discretion (unassigned fund balance).

• The city’s total debt decreased by $191,684 (4.4 percent) during the fiscal year.

— Editor John Charles Robbins can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 13, or by email at jrobbins@civitasmedia.com.