City of Beachwood's 2015 Financial Audit Comes Back Clean

The City of Beachwood has received the results of the 2105 audit and it has come back clean. Clearly, this is good news, it also shows that Beachwood has corrected the violations Auditor Dave Yost discovered in 2013 and 2014 audits.

In 2013, the auditor's office determined that Mayor Merle Gorden received payment for wedding he performed in addition to travel and vacation benefits. The mayor has since repaid the city according to cleveland.com.

In 2014, Beachwood failed to follow its own policy by allowing outside groups to use City Hall meeting rooms.

“All of Beachwood should be proud of this audit, because it shows a city that is financially efficient while continuing to provide outstanding municipal services to its residents and businesses,” Gorden said in a statement on the city's website. “It is my pleasure to pronounce that the city is fiscally fit and very well positioned to meet the future needs of our residents and employers.”

The city's website lists the following highlights of the audit report:

• The city’s balance in its general fund – which is used to pay for municipal programs/services – was $26.2 million at the end of 2015.
• The city has spent $97.4 million during the past 15 years on city streets, facilities and recreational areas. Most of those improvements were paid with existing funds – only $21.6 in debt was used to finance those projects and that debt now has an outstanding balance of just $12 million.
• The city continues to give a 100 percent income tax credit to its residents, which allows residents working in locations outside of Beachwood to receive 100 percent credit for all income taxes paid to other taxing districts. That income tax credit, coupled with the city’s low property tax rates, are factors that make Beachwood a desirable community.

Beachwood City Council President Martin Horwitz had this to say about the recent audit:

“These annual state audits are almost like a report card for the city,” he said. “In this case, I’d say the city got an A Plus. Beachwood is a great place to live and a great place for businesses. We take a special and well deserved pride in the quality of our municipal services but we also continue to search for efficiencies to enable us to be prudent with the spending of tax dollars.”

The city will also keep its AAA rating with Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Investors Service – their highest investment rating, which means that any notes or bonds the city sells to finance improvement projects are deemed to be safe investments which translates to reduced costs for the city.

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