An independent audit has found no significant issues with Aurora’s financial reporting of 2024.
The 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, which contains the independent audit report, was presented to the Aurora City Council’s Finance Committee last week. At the meeting, a representative from the city’s independent auditors said the 2024 financial statements are “fairly presented in all material respects” and in line with generally-accepted accounting principals.
Plus, the auditors did not note any “material weaknesses” or “significant deficiencies” in the city’s internal control of financial statements, according to the presentation by Jim Savio, a principal at Sikich, the city’s independent auditor.
If weaknesses or deficiencies in internal control had been found, it would have meant that the design or operation of the city’s processes did not allow staff to prevent or detect and correct errors in financial reports on a timely basis, the written auditor’s report included with the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report said.
Tests were also done to check if the city was complying with certain laws, grant agreements, contracts and regulations, and those tests did not find any issues, according to the report.
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Savio said at the Finance Committee meeting last week that it was a “pretty routine year” with no disagreements between auditors and management or any delays in the auditing process.
Financial statements show the city spent around what it budgeted or less during 2024, which is a legal requirement, he said.
According to the city-written portion of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Aurora’s “net position” increased by roughly 14% from $237.8 million to $271.8 million during 2024. That number is a useful indicator of whether the city’s financial position is getting better or worse, city management said in the report.
Overall, the city in 2024 took in $393.7 million while spending $359.6 million, a difference of $34.1 million, according to the city management’s analysis section of the report. Notably, these numbers and others from this section of the report do not include all of the city’s funds, since some are not able to support their own programs, such as the pension funds for police and firefighters.
Aurora gets revenue from diverse sources, management wrote in the report, but the main source of funding in 2024 was property taxes. The city took in about $102.2 million through this tax last year, a decrease of about 1.8% since 2023.
The city also got around $60.9 million through two sales taxes: a portion of the retailer’s occupation tax shared by the state and the city’s own home-rule sales tax. The retailer’s occupation tax revenue went up by 3.8% over 2023, but the home-rule sales tax revenue went down by 0.9%.
Like overall revenue, which was up 5.8% over 2023, the city’s portion of the state income tax was also on the rise. In 2024, the city got $30.7 million from the tax, an increase of 6.6% over 2023.
Aurora spent around 4.6% more in 2024 than it did in 2023, and most of that money was spent on salaries and benefits.
The report also shows that the city’s general fund, its main operating account, had around $42.1 million at the end of 2024, an increase of $13.1 million over the end of 2023 and above the required $24.4 million minimum. Aurora’s code requires it holds a certain amount of money in that account because property taxes are collected only at certain times of the year but the money is spent year-round.
The city had $890.5 million in long-term debt at the end of 2024, although much of it was wrapped up in pension liabilities, which totaled $487.9 million. The city had around $205.2 million in general obligation bonds at that time, which are generally paid through the property tax levy, but for the last several years the city has used other revenue sources to lower the impact to property owners, according to the report.
The Aurora City Council has approved over $100 million in additional debt through general obligation bonds this year and late last year through the sale of bonds to finance construction projects from new fire stations to renovations at RiverEdge Park.
At a recent community town hall, Aurora Mayor John Laesch said the city’s debt has now reached $327 million. With the increased debt payment and other reasons, Aurora is facing a significant gap between revenues and expenses in 2026, he said.
The 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report was unanimously accepted by the Finance Committee at its July 24 meeting. It is now set to go before the City Council Committee of the Whole next month, then it will head to the City Council for final approval.
After final approval, the 324-page document will be posted on Aurora’s website, according to a city spokesperson.