An annual audit of the Naperville Park District, presented to the park board last week, shows the district is in good financial shape.
Local accounting firm Sikich LLC gave the district an “unmodified opinion,” which is the highest level achievable.
For the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2021, the park district also received a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association for the 30th consecutive year.
“The audit went smoothly and was on time,” Sikich auditor Brian LeFevre told the board. “District staff was very professional and easy to work with.
“This document is also a good document to show your constituents who might be interested in the financial information of the district,” he said. “This really tells the story of your financial position.”
LeFevre noted that employer contributions to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Plan dropped from 8.81% of payroll in 2021 to 7.27% in 2022. The amount paid was $689,186.
“So good news in terms of budgetary impact and that percentage going down,” he said. “It’s one of the most well-funded plans in the country.”
He pointed out that the plan went from being overfunded (113%) in 2021 to underfunded (91%) in 2022 because of a tough year for the markets. But that’s not going to affect rates because returns are averaged over a five-period period, LeFevre.
“I would be remiss if I did not give a big recognition to Jeremy Link, our account manager and his team,” district Finance Director Sue Stanish said. “We had, for another year, zero adjustments, which is very rare, a very clean audit. It was done early.
“We’re not outpacing a lot, but when you get a clean audit like that, and you have no audit adjustments the whole entire year, accounting that’s accurate and timely, really I should give a thank you to all of us in the district. Because everyone tries really hard to put things where they belong on invoices. And all that really adds up to a good audit.”
Giles Bruce is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
