Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to evaluate the Village’s financial condition for the period March 1, 2011 through February 28, 2014.

Background

The Village of Fort Ann is located in Washington County and has a population of approximately 490. The Village is governed by an elected three-member Board of Trustees. Budgeted appropriations for the 2013-14 fiscal year totaled approximately $219,000 for the general, water and sewer funds.

Key Findings

• The Board consistently appropriated excessive amounts of fund balance in the general fund to finance operations, which caused this fund to be in fiscal stress at the end of the 2013-14 fiscal year.
• The Board intentionally overestimated expenditures for the water and sewer funds with the intention of increasing the levels of fund balance.

Key Recommendations

• Develop a plan to alleviate the fiscal stress of the general fund and ensure that fund balance is not appropriated in excess of the actual amount available.
• Ensure that the water and sewer funds’ budgets contain realistic appropriations.