Dec. 16—The city of Santa Fe reached a milestone Monday, submitting its fiscal year 2024 audit to the New Mexico Office of the State Auditor by deadline. This is the first time in at least five years that the city has submitted a financial audit on time.
“This really demonstrates the city’s commitment to financial reporting and ensuring audits are completed in a timely manner,” Chief Financial Officer Emily Oster said Monday afternoon.
In a news release issued earlier Monday, Oster described late audits as “a thing of the past for the city of Santa Fe.”
In recent years, the Treasury Department has helped the city emerge from its backlog of overdue audits, a problem that has dogged the city for two decades. The city has filed four financial audits with the state since June 2023.
With the filing of its latest delinquent audit in May, the city has finally caught up on its financial reporting and continues to remain in good standing with the state.
“Completing four audits in less than 18 months is a monumental achievement,” Mayor Alan Webber said in a statement Monday. “I am extremely proud of the work of the entire City team. We are extremely grateful to Chief Financial Officer Emily Oster and her team for this achievement.”
Confidentiality rules prevent city officials from discussing the contents of the audit until it is officially released by the state auditor, which Oster said will take about six to eight weeks.
The city’s fiscal year 2023 audit included 13 findings, nine of which were carried over from the previous audit. The 2022 audit contained 17 findings, including two deemed “significant deficiencies,” and the 2021 audit contained 22 findings.
Oster said catching up on required reports is a “huge achievement” for the city and something she hopes will be recognized by the state.
The state Department of Finance and Administration required the city to access its state capital expenditures through a fiscal agent in 2023 because of the outstanding audits. The agency cited a state executive order that requires local governments to be current on financial audits and correct any past deficiencies to qualify for capital project grants.
The city has contracted with the North Central New Mexico Economic Development District to receive allocations beginning in fiscal year 2021, an agreement that has been extended several times to give the city access to capital expenditures for other years.
How long the city will have to continue cooperating with the tax agent is at the state’s discretion, but Oster said filing a timely audit is “a strong indicator that the city has turned a corner.”
“Reaching that milestone and delivering it on time is something that means a lot to me, and I hope some of our other partners will also think this is a meaningful illustration of our progress,” she said.
The city has worked with outside firms Carr, Riggs & Ingram and CliftonLarsonAllen on its annual financial audits in recent years. Oster said submitting the audit on time for 2024 was a team effort involving numerous city departments, including the city’s legal, internet technology, human resources and utility staff.
“It literally affects every department of city government, and we could not have achieved this important milestone of submitting an audit on time without the buy-in, support and participation of every city department,” she said.
