Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By P.J. GLISSON
Wakefield — The Wakefield City Council received good news on Monday evening in the way of a “clean audit” from CPA Karl “Gus” Ahonen of Ironwood.
According to City Manager Rob Brown on Tuesday, the city has no deficits to file with the state, and Ahonen reported no other problems either.
The CPA’s report shows that the general fund balance at the end of the previous fiscal year on June 30, 2019 was $535,464 and that the city paid $156,000 in “extra” pension contributions to the state’s Municipal Employees’ Retirement System.
Brown explained that the city’s fund balance decreased by $151,335 during the past fiscal year, in large part due to the MERS contributions and because of $126,000 in capital improvements to the municipal building.
The unfunded pension liability is estimated at $2,462,731 “as determined by actuaries,” stated the CPA report.
Ahonen’s report also showed that the water utility fund had an unrestricted net position deficit of $174,976 on June 30 of last year, but the state does not require a related deficit elimination plan for that sum.
In addition, reported Ahonen, “The unfunded liability for retiree health insurance is estimated at $374,636.”
Ahonen said there were no budget violations and that the city “did a good job of monitoring and amending the budget during the year.”
Brown also noted Tuesday that the city has taken Ahonen’s advice to discontinue holding funds from nonprofit initiatives such as revitalization work and the Split Rock Trail Association.
According to Brown, Ahonen has advised going in that direction “for years,” on the grounds that “the city should only hold money that the city is responsible for.”
In other news, Brown said the city currently is short of snow-removing machinery due to the necessity to wait for needed repair parts for more than another month.
“It’s just a very time-consuming process,” the city manager said, in relation to not having all equipment needed to allow for efficient paring back on snowbanks, along with general tasks of removing, loading and hauling snow.
