Powell leaders have received a glowing assessment from their auditors, who say the city’s finances are in great shape.

“It couldn’t really, honestly, be much better,” CPA James Seckman said at the council’s Oct. 16 meeting. “The results of our audit would show that the City of Powell is in very good financial health.”

Over the fiscal year that ran from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, the Powell firm Seckman & Thomas found no significant deficiencies or material weaknesses, no instances of noncompliance and enough money in the city’s reserves.

When utilities are included, the city had $17.6 million worth of expenses over the course of the year, which was more than covered by $18.3 million worth of revenue, according to the audit. That included a $537,241 boost from the American Rescue Plan Act.

As of June 30, the city had a total of $22.5 million worth of cash and investments on hand, including $5.4 million in its general fund (a $567,428 increase from a year earlier). That’s enough to cover roughly nine months of general fund operating expenses and is within Seckman & Thomas’s recommendation to keep six to 12 months’ worth of cash on hand.

As for the water, wastewater, sanitation and electric funds, they also all collected enough money to cover operating expenses and the cost of depreciation with money left over. For instance, the water fund swelled by $381,670 and contained nearly $3.8 million at the end of June (enough to cover 30 months’ of operating expenses and within the auditors’ recommendation of 12 to 36 months’ worth of cash).

Meanwhile, the sanitation fund — which benefited from increased garbage rates and a fuel surcharge fee — ended the year with $639,641 in the bank (up $78,470). While that would only cover about five months worth of operations, the auditors said it was enough to replace the city’s sanitation trucks and garbage containers.

Seckman & Thomas audits nearly all of the cities and towns in the Big Horn Basin and Seckman said Powell was the only one that didn’t need to increase one of its utility rates.

“The City of Powell’s sitting really good right now,” he said.

The audit analyzes the city’s financial condition in great detail — noting, for example, that city employees had accumulated $285,631 worth of vacation time by the end of the year — and spans 47 pages in total. Seckman praised the work of City Finance Director Kaela Nelson, describing her as one of the few people in municipal government who can produce a set of books that don’t need to be adjusted by the auditors.

“The financial results are phenomenal,” Seckman said in summary, and “it’s great, great news for the City of Powell.”

Council members cheered the findings at the meeting.

“We’ll leave smiling,” said Councilman Floyd Young.