Edgar’s 2022 audit sheds positive light on village

Edgar trustees got to hear positive news about the village’s 2022 audit during Monday’s meeting.

According to Dave Minch, a certified public accountant with KerberRose, the audit had a “clean opinion” of Edgar’s financial statements, with the village’s general fund ending last year with over a $2 million balance. While he looked at that as a positive, Village Administrator Jennifer Lopez made clarifying comments about why the village had such a balance after “seeing some raised eyebrows” during the meeting.

Lopez said the village’s balance was higher in 2022 due to savings put away for this year’s major projects, such as street work. She said most of it is designated to be spent in 2023.

“We will be expending that hopefully this year with the village portion of Thomas Hill and the four street projects that we have,” Lopez said.

According to Minch, it’s not uncommon for municipalities to have built up larger general fund balances in recent years as road work and other projects have been pushed off due to pricey quotes and inflation.

“Everything is costing more, so we are seeing these increases in fund balance because either projects have been delayed or have not been completed,” Minch said.

One of the only aspects of the audit that came up as a potential issue was the lack of segregation of duties, which is something many small municipalities and school districts face, according to Minch.

“You see this finding simply because of the limited number of staff that are at the village,” Minch said. “The only way to really remove this finding is by hiring additional resources so you can properly segregate all of the financial record keeping, reconciling and recording functions. I always remind boards that everybody in this room plays an important role in the control function of the village… Make sure you’re reviewing all those disbursements that are going on within the village.”

Overall, Minch said Edgar is in a strong financial position. The village board approved the 2022 audit after the discussion.

In other business:

The board voted to approve the ordinance and sign the joint agreement required to join the Rothschild Municipal Court System after the village’s attorney reviewed the necessary paperwork. The municipal court system deals with minor traffic violations such as speeding and other municipal infractions, while criminal offenses are processed through the Marathon County system.

Several street closures in the village will occur during the week of June 13-18 for the annual Fireman’s Homecoming Carnival after a request came to the board from the Edgar Fire Department. The closures will include a section of 3rd Avenue from Chesak Avenue to Redwood Street on June 18, 12-3 p.m., for the parade.

Trustees voted to approve the hiring of Diane Dvorak at $16 per hour for the limited term summer help position. Dvorak will be primarily lawn mowing, but may also help with other public works projects as needed.