BY JIMMY LAWTONNorth Country This Week

OGDENSBURG — The City of Ogdensburg received a clean audit opinion for its 2025 financial statements, but auditors also found a weakness in the city's handling of grant payments. The errors required the city to correct more than $531,000 in previously reported financial information.

Representatives from FustCharles LLP presented the audit findings to the City Council at its Nov. 9 meeting.

The problem involved how grant payments were recorded and how information about those payments was shared between city departments and the Finance Department.

According to the audit, some grant balances recorded as money owed to the city were not reduced after the city received the payments. In another case, a grant payment was recorded as revenue in the General Fund instead of being recorded as money owed to the Capital Projects Fund.

The errors appeared to occur because departments requesting grant reimbursements did not always tell the Finance Department when applications were submitted or when payments arrived.  Without that information, staff could not properly match payments to the amounts the city was expecting to receive.

The take away from the auditors was that the city's procedures were not strong enough to ensure proper recording of information, however Mayor Michael Tooley said such errors would not occur in the future, which was confirmed with City Comptroller Angela Gray.

City management agreed with the finding and outlined steps to prevent similar problems. Departments will be required to notify the Finance Department when they submit grant reimbursement requests and when they receive payments. The city also plans to provide additional training for Finance Department staff on accounting for capital projects.

Auditors reported no other instances of noncompliance that were required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards.

Tough year ahead

The audit also reviewed the city's financial position and the challenges it faces as it prepares future budgets.

The General Fund ended 2025 with a balance of $4,844,704. That was an increase of $306,538 from its corrected starting balance of $4,538,166.

Of the ending balance, $3,655,674 was classified as unassigned. That amount represented 26.2% of General Fund spending, including transfers to other funds.

During the council discussion, Tooley pointed out that the unassigned portion had fallen by about $139,000, even though the General Fund's total balance increased. 

The audit also points to major infrastructure needs that could put pressure on the city's finances.

A 2025 study of the city's infrastructure identified about $14.9 million in needed work to address delayed maintenance and other capital needs. That estimate does not include upgrades to the drinking water system, which are expected to cost about $26.9 million.

The report outlines aging city buildings, roads, recreation facilities, vehicles and heavy equipment as areas needing attention. Some equipment is being used beyond its expected service life, leading to higher repair costs..

The report notes that the city depends on property taxes, state aid and sales tax revenue to support its operations. The loss of sales tax revenue through state pre-emption is estimated to cost the city about $1.8 million each year.

The city's financial statements showed about $20.3 million in revenue and $19.3 million in expenses during 2025. The difference resulted in an increase of $979,428 in the city's overall net position.

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