CITY OF FORT BRAGG
COMMUNICATION WITH THOSE CHARGED WITH GOVERNANCE AND
COMMUNICATION OF INTERNAL CONTROL RELATED MATTERS
JUNE 30, 2023
7080 Donlon Way, Suite 204, Dublin, CA 94568 ● phone (925) 556-6200 ● fax: (707) 232-6226 1102 South Main Street, #1, Fort Bragg, CA 95437 ● phone (707) 964-6325 www.jjacpa.com
January 31, 2024
City Council
City of Fort Bragg
Fort Bragg, California
We have audited the financial statements of City of Fort Bragg (City) as of and for the year ended June 30, 2023 and have issued our report thereon dated January 31, 2024. Professional standards require that we advise you of the following matters relating to our audit.
Our Responsibility in Relation to the Financial Statement Audit As communicated in our engagement letter dated July 28, 2023, our responsibility, as described by professional standards, is to form and express an opinion(s) about whether the financial statements that have been prepared by management with your oversight are presented fairly, in all material respects, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Our audit of the financial statements does not relieve you or management of your respective responsibilities.
Our responsibility, as prescribed by professional standards, is to plan and perform our audit to obtain reasonable, rather than absolute, assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit of financial statements includes consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, as part of our audit, we considered the internal control of the City solely for the purpose of determining our audit procedures and not to provide any assurance concerning such internal control.
We are also responsible for communicating significant matters related to the audit that are, in our professional judgment, relevant to your responsibilities in overseeing the financial reporting process. However, we are not required to design procedures for the purpose of identifying other matters to communicate to you.
Planned Scope and Timing of the Audit
We conducted our audit consistent with the planned scope and timing we previously communicated to you.
Compliance with All Ethics Requirements Regarding Independence The engagement team, others in our firm, as appropriate, and our firm has complied with all relevant ethical requirements regarding independence.
Qualitative Aspects of the Entity’s Significant Accounting Practices Significant Accounting Policies
Management has the responsibility to select and use appropriate accounting policies. A summary of the significant accounting policies adopted by the City is included in Note 1 to the financial statements. There have been no initial selection of accounting policies and no changes in significant accounting policies or their application during 2022-23. No matters have come to our attention that would require us, under professional standards, to inform you about (1) the methods used to account for significant unusual transactions and (2) the effect of significant accounting policies in controversial or emerging areas for which there is a lack of authoritative guidance or consensus.
Significant Accounting Estimates
Accounting estimates are an integral part of the financial statements prepared by management and are based on management’s current judgments. Those judgments are normally based on knowledge and experience about past and current events and assumptions about future events. Certain accounting estimates are particularly sensitive because of their significance to the financial statements and because of the possibility that future events affecting them may differ markedly from management’s current judgments.
The most sensitive accounting estimates affecting the financial statements are useful lives of capital assets (“useful lives”).
Management’s estimate of the useful lives is based on experience with and observation of capital assets, by category (e.g. infrastructure) as well as industry standards, when applicable (i.e. buildings). We evaluated the key factors and assumptions used to develop the useful lives and determined that it is reasonable in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole.
Financial Statement Disclosures
Certain financial statement disclosures involve significant judgment and are particularly sensitive because of their significance to financial statement users. The most sensitive disclosures affecting the City’s financial statements relate to commitments and contingencies.
Significant Difficulties Encountered during the Audit
We encountered no significant difficulties in dealing with management relating to the performance of the audit.
Uncorrected and Corrected Misstatements
For purposes of this communication, professional standards require us to accumulate all known and likely adjustments identified during the audit, other than those that we believe are trivial, and communicate them to the appropriate level of management. Further, professional standards require us to also communicate the effect of uncorrected adjustments related to prior periods on the relevant classes of transactions, account balances or disclosures, and the financial statements as a whole and each applicable opinion unit. Management has corrected all identified adjustments.
In addition, professional standards require us to communicate to you all material, corrected adjustments that were brought to the attention of management as a result of our audit procedures. None of the adjustments identified by us as a result of our audit procedures and corrected by management were material, either individually or in the aggregate, to the financial statements taken as a whole or applicable opinion units Disagreements with Management
For purposes of this letter, professional standards define a disagreement with management as a matter, whether or not resolved to our satisfaction, concerning a financial accounting, reporting, or auditing matter, which could be significant to the City’s financial statements or the auditor’s report. No such disagreements arose during the course of the audit.
Representations Requested from Management
We have requested certain written representations from management, which are included in the attached letter dated January 31, 2023.
Management’s Consultations with Other Accountants
In some cases, management may decide to consult with other accountants about auditing and accounting matters. Management informed us that, and to our knowledge, there were no consultations with other accountants regarding auditing and accounting matters.
Other Significant Findings or Issues
In the normal course of our professional association with the City, we generally discuss a variety of matters, including the application of accounting principles and auditing standards, operating and regulatory conditions affecting the City, and operational plans and strategies that may affect the risks of material misstatement. None of the matters discussed resulted in a condition to our retention as the entity’s auditors.
Communication of Internal Control Related Matters
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements, we considered the City’s internal control over financial reporting (internal control) to determine the audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances for the purpose of expressing our opinions on the financial statements, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the City’s internal control. Accordingly, we do not express an opinion on the effectiveness of the City’s internal control.
A deficiency in internal control exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent, or detect and correct, misstatements on a timely basis. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the entity’s financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected on a timely basis. A significant deficiency is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control that is less severe than a material weakness, yet important enough to merit attention by those charged with governance.
Our consideration of internal control was for the limited purpose described in the first paragraph of this section and was not designed to identify all deficiencies in internal control that might be material weaknesses or significant deficiencies. Given these limitations, during our audit we did not identify any deficiencies in internal control that we consider to be material weaknesses. However, material weaknesses may exist that have not been identified.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of the City Council and management of the City and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties.
Very truly yours,
]ÉáxÑ{ ]A TÜv{ JOSEPH J ARCH, CPA
President/CEO
JJACPA, INC.
January 31, 2024
JJACPA, Inc.
7080 Donlon Way, Suite #204
Dublin, CA 94568
This representation letter is provided in connection with your audit of the governmental activities, the business-type activities, each major fund, the aggregate remaining fund information and the budgetary comparison information of the City of Fort Bragg (City) as of June 30, 2023 and for the year then ended, and the related notes to the financial statements, for the purpose of expressing opinions on whether the basic financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position, results of operations, and cash flows, where applicable, of the various opinion units of the City in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted for governments in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP).
Certain representations in this letter are described as being limited to matters that are material. Items are considered material, regardless of size, if they involve an omission or misstatement of accounting information that, in the light of surrounding circumstances, makes it probable that the judgment of a reasonable person relying on the information would be changed or influenced by the omission or misstatement.
We confirm that, to the best of our knowledge and belief, having made such inquiries as we considered necessary for the purpose of appropriately informing ourselves as of January 31, 2024:
Financial Statements
We have fulfilled our responsibilities, as set out in the terms of the audit engagement dated July 28, 2023, for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements of the various opinion units referred to above in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
We acknowledge our responsibility for the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
We acknowledge our responsibility for the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control to prevent and detect fraud.
We acknowledge our responsibility for compliance with the laws, regulations, and provisions of contracts and grant agreements.
We have reviewed, approved, and taken responsibility for the financial statements and related notes. We have a process to track the status of audit findings and recommendations. We have identified and communicated to you all previous audits, attestation engagements, and other studies related to the audit objectives and whether related recommendations have been implemented. Significant assumptions used by us in making accounting estimates, including those measured at fair value, are reasonable.
DocuSign Envelope ID: ADCDF137-7AB8-432E-AE78-69535EBB0A58 Related party relationships and transactions have been appropriately accounted for and disclosed in accordance with the requirements of U.S. GAAP.
All events subsequent to the date of the financial statements and for which U.S. GAAP requires adjustment or disclosure have been adjusted or disclosed.
All component units, as well as joint ventures with an equity interest, are included and other joint ventures and related organizations are properly disclosed.
All funds and activities are properly classified.
All funds that meet the quantitative criteria in GASB Statement No. 34, Basic Financial Statements—and Management's Discussion and Analysis—for State and Local Governments, GASB Statement No. 37, Basic Financial Statements—and Management's Discussion and Analysis—for State and Local Governments:
Omnibus as amended, and GASB Statement No. 65, Items Previously Reported as Assets and Liabilities, for presentation as major are identified and presented as such and all other funds that are presented as major are considered important to financial statement users.
All components of net position, nonspendable fund balance, and restricted, committed, assigned, and unassigned fund balance are properly classified and, if applicable, approved. Our policy regarding whether to first apply restricted or unrestricted resources when an expense is incurred for purposes for which both restricted and unrestricted net position/fund balance are available is appropriately disclosed and net position/fund balance is properly recognized under the policy. All revenues within the statement of activities have been properly classified as program revenues, general revenues, contributions to term or permanent endowments, or contributions to permanent fund principal. All expenses have been properly classified in or allocated to functions and programs in the statement of activities, and allocations, if any, have been made on a reasonable basis. All interfund and intra-entity transactions and balances have been properly classified and reported. Deposit and investment risks have been properly and fully disclosed. Capital assets, including infrastructure assets, are properly capitalized, reported, and if applicable, depreciated.
All required supplementary information is measured and presented within the prescribed guidelines. With regard to investments and other instruments reported at fair value:
The underlying assumptions are reasonable and they appropriately reflect management’s intent and ability to carry out its stated courses of action.
The measurement methods and related assumptions used in determining fair value are appropriate in the circumstances and have been consistently applied.
The disclosures related to fair values are complete, adequate, and in accordance with U.S. GAAP. There are no subsequent events that require adjustments to the fair value measurements and disclosures included in the financial statements.
Information Provided
To the best of our knowledge, we have provided you with:
Access to all information, of which we are aware that is relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements of the various opinion units referred to above, such as records, documentation, meeting minutes,7and other matters;
Additional information that you have requested from us for the purpose of the audit; and Unrestricted access to persons within the entity from whom you determined it necessary to obtain audit evidence.
All transactions have been recorded in the accounting records and are reflected in the financial statements. We have disclosed to you the results of our assessment of the risk that the financial statements may be materially misstated as a result of fraud.
We have no knowledge of any fraud or suspected fraud that affects the entity and involves:
DocuSign Envelope ID: ADCDF137-7AB8-432E-AE78-69535EBB0A58 Management;
Employees who have significant roles in internal control; or Others where the fraud could have a material effect on the financial statements. We have no knowledge of any allegations of fraud, or suspected fraud, affecting the entity’s financial statements communicated by employees, former employees, vendors, regulators, or others. We are not aware of any pending or threatened litigation and claims whose effects should be considered when preparing the financial statements.
We have disclosed to you the identity of the entity’s related parties and all the related party relationships and transactions of which we are aware.
There have been no communications from regulatory agencies concerning noncompliance with or deficiencies in accounting, internal control, or financial reporting practices. The City has no plans or intentions that may materially affect the carrying value or classification of assets and liabilities.
We have disclosed to you all guarantees, whether written or oral, under which the City is contingently liable.
We have disclosed to you all significant estimates and material concentrations known to management that are required to be disclosed in accordance with GASB Statement No. 62 (GASB-62), Codification of Accounting and Financial Reporting Guidance Contained in Pre-November 30, 1989 FASB and AICPA Pronouncements. Significant estimates are estimates at the balance sheet date that could change materially within the next year. Concentrations refer to volumes of business, revenues, available sources of supply, or markets or geographic areas for which events could occur that would significantly disrupt normal finances within the next year.
We have identified and disclosed to you the laws, regulations, and provisions of contracts and grant agreements that could have a direct and material effect on financial statement amounts, including legal and contractual provisions for reporting specific activities in separate funds. There are no:
Violations or possible violations of laws or regulations, or provisions of contracts or grant agreements whose effects should be considered for disclosure in the financial statements or as a basis for recording a loss contingency, including applicable budget laws and regulations. Unasserted claims or assessments that our lawyer has advised are probable of assertion and must be disclosed in accordance with GASB-62.
Other liabilities or gain or loss contingencies that are required to be accrued or disclosed by GASB-62 Continuing disclosure consent decree agreements or filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and we have filed updates on a timely basis in accordance with the agreements (Rule 240, 15c2-12).
The City has satisfactory title to all owned assets, and there are no liens or encumbrances on such assets nor has any asset or future revenue been pledged as collateral, except as disclosed to you. We have complied with all aspects of grant agreements and other contractual agreements that would have a material effect on the financial statements in the event of noncompliance.
With respect to federal award programs:
We are responsible for understanding and complying with and have complied with the requirements of the Uniform Guidance.
We are responsible for the preparation and presentation of the schedule of expenditures of federal awards in accordance with the Uniform Guidance.
We believe the schedule of expenditures of federal awards, including its form and content, is fairly presented in accordance with the Uniform Guidance.
DocuSign Envelope ID: ADCDF137-7AB8-432E-AE78-69535EBB0A58 As part of your audit(s), you prepared the draft financial statements and related notes and schedule of expenditures of federal awards. We have designated an individual with suitable skill, knowledge, or experience to oversee your services and have made all management decisions and performed all management functions. We have reviewed, approved, and accepted responsibility for those financial statements and related notes and schedule of expenditures of federal awards. The methods of measurement or presentation have not changed from those used in the prior period. We are responsible for including the auditor’s report on the schedule of expenditures of federal awards in any document that contains the schedule and that indicates that the auditor has reported on such information. We have notified you of federal awards and funding increments that were received before December 26, 2014, and differentiated those awards from awards and funding increments received on or after December 26, 2014, and the Uniform Guidance.
When the schedule of expenditures of federal awards is not presented with the audited financial statements, management will make the audited financial statements readily available to the intended users of the schedule of expenditures of federal awards no later than the date of issuance by the entity of the schedule of expenditures of federal awards and the auditor’s report thereon. We have, in accordance the Uniform Guidance, identified in the schedule of expenditures of federal awards, expenditures made during the audit period for all awards provided by federal agencies in the form of grants, federal cost-reimbursement contracts, loans, loan guarantees, property (including donated surplus property), cooperative agreements, interest subsidies, food commodities, direct appropriations, and other assistance.
We have no knowledge of any instances, that have occurred or are likely to have occurred, of fraud and noncompliance with provisions of laws and regulations that have a material effect on the financial statements or other financial data significant to the audit objectives, and any other instances that warrant the attention of those charged with governance, whether communicated by employees, former employees, vendors, regulators, or others.
We have no knowledge of any instances that have occurred or are likely to have occurred, of noncompliance with provisions of contracts and grant agreements that has a material effect on the determination of financial statement amounts or other financial data significant to the audit objectives. We have no knowledge of any instances that have occurred or are likely to have occurred of abuse that could be quantitatively or qualitatively material to the financial statements or other financial data significant to the audit objectives.
We have taken timely and appropriate steps to remedy fraud, noncompliance with provisions of laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements, or abuse that you have reported to us. We have a process to track the status of audit findings and recommendations. We have identified for you all previous audits, attestation engagements, and other studies related to the audit objectives and whether related recommendations have been implemented. We have provided views on your reported audit findings, conclusions, and recommendations, as well as our planned corrective actions, for the report.
We are responsible for complying with the requirements of laws, regulations, and the provisions of contracts and grant agreements related to each of our federal programs and have identified and disclosed to you the requirements of laws, regulations, and the provisions of contracts and grant agreements that are considered to have a direct and material effect on each major federal program; and we have complied, in all material respects, with these requirements.
We have provided to you our interpretations of any compliance requirements that have varying interpretations.
We are responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal control over compliance requirements applicable to federal programs that provide reasonable assurance that we are managing our federal awards in compliance with laws, regulations, and the provisions of contracts and grant agreements that could have a material effect on our federal programs. Also, no changes [or disclose the changes made] have been made in the internal control system to the date of this letter that might significantly affect internal DocuSign Envelope ID: ADCDF137-7AB8-432E-AE78-69535EBB0A58 control, including any corrective action taken with regard to significant deficiencies, including material weaknesses, reported in the schedule of findings and questioned costs. We have made available to you all contracts and grant agreements (including amendments, if any) and any other correspondence with federal agencies or pass-through entities relating to federal programs. We have received no requests from a federal agency to audit one or more specific programs as a major program.
We have identified and disclosed to you all amounts questioned and any known noncompliance with the requirements of federal awards, including the results of other audits or program reviews. We also know of no instances of noncompliance occurring subsequent to the end of the period audited. We have charged costs to federal awards in accordance with applicable cost principles, including amounts claimed or used for matching determined in accordance with relevant guidelines in the Uniform Guidance. We have made available to you all documentation related to the compliance requirements, including information related to federal program financial reports and claims for advances and reimbursements. Federal program financial reports and claims for advances and reimbursements are supported by the books and records from which the basic financial statements have been prepared (and are prepared on a basis consistent with the schedule of expenditures of federal awards). The copies of federal program financial reports provided to you are true copies of the reports submitted, or electronically transmitted, to the respective federal agency or pass-through entity, as applicable. We are responsible for and have accurately prepared the summary schedule of prior audit findings to include all findings required to be included by the Uniform Guidance, and we have provided you with all information on the status of the follow-up on prior audit findings by federal awarding agencies and passthrough entities, including all management decisions. We have disclosed to you the findings received and related corrective actions taken for previous audits, attestation
We are responsible for and have accurately completed the appropriate sections of the Data Collection Form as required by the Uniform Guidance, and we are responsible for preparing and implementing a correction action plan for each audit finding.
We have disclosed all contracts or other agreements with service organizations and disclosed to you all communications from these service organizations relating to noncompliance at the organizations. We have reviewed, approved, and taken responsibility for the schedule of expenditures of federal awards and related notes and an acknowledgment of the auditor’s role in the preparation of this information. (This representation is required by footnote 28 to paragraph 3.18 of Government Auditing Standards when the auditor has a role in preparing the trial balance and draft financial statements and related notes.) We have reviewed, approved, and taken responsibility for accrual adjustments and an acknowledgment of the auditor’s role in the preparation of the adjustments. (This representation is required by footnote 28 to paragraph 3.18 of Government Auditing Standards when the auditor has a role in converting cash-basis financial statements to accrual-based financial statements.) We have disclosed to you the nature of any subsequent events that provide additional evidence with respect to conditions that existed at the end of the reporting period that affect noncompliance during the reporting period.
Isaac Whippy, City Manager
DocuSign Envelope ID: ADCDF137-7AB8-432E-AE78-69535EBB0A58