SPRUCE PINE – The results are in for the latest financial audit of the town of Spruce Pine.
Douglas Tennant, of Combs, Tennant and Carpenter, the firm that performs the town’s annual audit, presented an overview of his findings Monday, Dec. 9, during the regular meeting of the Spruce Pine Town Council.
Tennant praised the council and the town staff for what he deemed a “clean report” and added the town received an unqualified opinion, which is the best distinction.
Tennant said the town’s fund balance is down slightly from the previous fiscal year, but added it remains above the state average.
“The town is in very good financial shape,” Tennant said. “You’ve done well.”
The town improved in its governmental funds and its tax collection rate was 98.40, which is up from the previous fiscal year’s collection rate of 97.6 and is above the state average of about 98 percent.
“You’ve got an excellent collection rate,” Tennant said.
Tennant closed his report by thanking the town officials for their cooperation during the audit and reiterated the audit report was clean and contained no glaring irregularities.
“I really want to thank the staff,” Tennant said. “You’ve got an excellent staff. Anything we need, you get to us really quickly and we appreciate that.”