By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Hays city commissioners heard a review of the city’s 2016 budget audit Thursday evening by Melissa Romme of Adams, Brown, Beran and Ball.

It was completed earlier than usual this year, according to Hays Finance Director Kim Rupp, who thanked city staff for their hard work.
“I appreciate all their help,” Rupp said. Romme also recognized city employees. “If your staff hadn’t helped us, we wouldn’t have been able to deliver the audit report as quickly as we did. We thank them for their time and effort in getting us the reports in a very timely manner.”

One change noted by Romme was an increase in the city’s cash balance.

“If you look at the total cash balance for the city of Hays a year ago (2015), it was at $49 million. And at the end of this year (2016) it was at $53.7 million, up by $4.7 million,” she said. “That’s because you’ve been setting money aside for certain capital projects and you’ve watched what your spending has been.”

Romme said her firm expected the cash amount to go up.

“It’s not because you got a lot of additional revenue. It’s because you’ve controlled your expenditures going into 2016,” she explained.

As required by Kansas statute, the city of Hays hires an outside firm to conduct an annual audit of city finances. The audit represents an unbiased opinion of business practices and the financial soundness of all city funds.