203 N. Brea Blvd., Suite 203
Brea,CA92821Lance, Soll & Lunghard, LLP Phone: 714.672.0022 January 26, 2023
To the Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
City of Riverside, California
We have audited the financial statements of the governmental activities, the business-type activities, each major fund, and the aggregate remaining fund information of the City of Riverside, California (the City), for the year ended June 30, 2022. In addition, we also audited the financial statements of the Riverside Public Utilities, comprised of the Electric and Water Utility enterprise Funds, which are major funds of the City; the financial statements of the Riverside Public Financing Authority, a blended component unit of the City; and the financial statements of the Successor Agency of the Redevelopment Agency of the City, a fiduciary component unit of the City. Professional stan dards require that we provide you with information about our responsibilities under generally accepted auditing standards, Government Auditing Standards and the Uniform Guidance, as well as certain information related to the planned scope and timing of our audit. We have communicated such information in our letter to you dated May 4, 2022. Professional standards also require that we communicate to you the following information related to our audit.
Significant Audit Matters
Qualitative Aspects of Significant Accounting Practices
Management is responsible for the selection and use of appropriate accounting policies. The significant accounting policies used by the City are described in Note 1 to the financial statements. As described in Note 1 to the financial statements, the City changed its accoun ting policies related to leases by adopting Statement of Governmental Accoun ting Standards (GASB Statement) No. 87, Leases. Accordingly, the cumulative effect of the accounting change as of the beginning of the year is reported in the Statement of Net Position. All significant transactions have been recognized in the financial statements in the proper period.
Accounting estimates are an integral part of the financial stat ements prepared by management and are based on management’s knowledge and experience about past and current events and assumptions about future events. Certain accounting estimates are particularly se nsitive because of their significance to the financial statements and because of the possibility that future events affecting them may differ significantly from those expected. The most sensitive estimates affecting the City’s financial statements were management’s estimates of its net pension liability/asset and n et other post-employment benefits asset based on actuarial valuation specialist assumptions. We evaluated the key factors and assumptions used to develop the net pension liability/asset and net other post-employment benefits asset in determining that they are reasonable in relation to the financial statements taken as a whole.
The financial statement disclosures are neutral, consistent, and clear.
Significant or Unusual Transactions
Management is responsible for the policies and practices used t o account for significant or unusual transactions As described in Note 25, the Electric Fund is reporting an extraordinary item of $5.7 million in the Statement of Revenues, Expenses and Changes in Net Position. In fiscal year 2021-2022, Southern California Edison (SCE) provided the 2020 Decommission ing Cost Estimate report, which projected a material increase in costs for the Electric Utility over the life of the SONGS decommissioning project. As a result, it was determined that the decommissioning liability be increased. The increase in the liability has been reported as a special item in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022.
To the Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
City of Riverside, California
Difficulties Encountered in Performing the Audit
We encountered no significant difficulties in dealing with mana gement in performing and completing our audit.
Corrected and Uncorrected Misstatements
Professional standards require u s to accumulate all known and l ikely misstatements identified during the audit, other than those that are trivial, and communicate them to the appropriate level of management. We are pleased to report that no such misstatements were identified during the course of our audit.
Disagreements with Management
For purposes of this letter, a disagreement with management is a financial accounting, reporting, or auditing matter, whether or not resolved to our satisfaction, that could be significant to the financial statements or the auditor’s report. We are pleased to report that no such dis agreements arose during the course of our audit.
Management Representations
We have requested certain representations from management that are included in the management representation letter dated January 26, 2023.
Management Consultations with Other Independent Accountants
In some cases, management may decide to consult with other accountants about auditing and accounting matters, similar to obtaining a “second opinion” on certain sit uations. If a consultation involves application of an accounting principle to the City’s financial statements or a determination of the type of auditor’s opinion that may be expressed on those statements, our professional standards require the consulting accountant to check with us to determine t hat the consultant has all the r elevant facts. To our knowledge, there were no such consultations with other accountants.
Other Audit Findings or Issues
We generally discuss a variety of matters, including the signif icant events or transactions that occurred during the year, business conditions affecting the City and bus iness plans and strategies that may affect the risks of material misstate ments, the application of account ing principles and auditing standards, with management each year prior to retention as the City’s auditors. However, these discussions occurred in the normal course of our professional relationship and our responses were not a condition to our retention.
Other Matters
We applied certain limited procedures to the management’s discu ssion and analysis, the budgetary comparison schedules, and the required pension and other post-employment benefits schedules, as listed in the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report’s table of content s, which are required supplementary information (RSI) that supplements the basic financial statements. Our procedures consisted of inquiries of management regarding the methods of preparing the information a nd comparing the information for consistency with management’s responses to our inquiries, the b asic financial statements, and other knowledge we obtained during our audit of the basic financial statements. We did not audit the RSI and do not express an opinion or provide any assurance on the RSI.
To the Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
City of Riverside, California
We were engaged to report on the combining and individual nonma jor fund financial statements and schedules, which accompany the financial statements but are not RSI. With respect to this supplementary information, we made certain inquiries of management and evalua ted the form, content, and methods of preparing the information to determine that the information com plies with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, the method of preparing it has not changed from the prior period, and the information is appropriate and complete in relation to our audit of the financial statements. We compared and reconciled the supplementary information to the un derlying accounting records used to prepare the financial statements or to the financial statements themselves.
We were not engaged to report on the introductory and statistic al sections which accompany the financial statements but are not RSI. Such information has not been subjected to the auditing procedures applied in the audit of the basic financial statements, and accordingly, w e do not express an opinion or provide any assurance on it.
The following new Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) pronouncements were effective for fiscal year 2021-2022 audit:
GASB Statement No. 87, Leases.
GASB Statement No. 89, Accounting for Interest Cost Incurr ed before the End of a Construction Period.
GASB Statement No. 97, Certain Component Unit Criteria, and Accounting and Financial Reporting for Internal Revenue Code Section 457 Deferred Compensation Plans.
The following GASB pron ouncements are effect ive in the followin g fiscal years’ audits and should be reviewed for proper implementation by management:
Fiscal year 2023
GASB Statement No. 91, Conduit Debt Obligations.
GASB Statement No. 94, Public-Private and Public-Public Partnerships and Availability Payment Arrangement.
GASB Statement No. 96, Subscription-Based Information Technology Arrangements.
Fiscal year 2024
GASB Statement No. 99, Omnibus 2022.
GASB Statement No. 100, Accounting Changes and Error Corrections.
Fiscal year 2025
GASB Statement No. 101, Compensated Absences.
To the Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
City of Riverside, California
Restriction on Use
This information is intended solely for the use of the City Cou ncil and management of the City of Riverside, California and is not intended to be, and should not be, used by anyone other than these specified parties.
Very truly yours,
Brea, California