Auditors deliver ‘clean’ financial report for Sumpter
Sumpter Township officials received good news recently regarding the financial audit completed for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026.
The audit report, an annual financial examination prepared by outside auditors from Post, Smythe, Lutz and Ziel, LLP indicated the bookkeeping records and financial accounting were in accordance with standard practices and showed no errors or problems.
Rana Emmons, a partner in the accounting firm, discussed the findings in the audit with members of the township board during the regular Oct. 27 meeting. She told officials she had “nothing bad to report” and the audit of financial record keeping was “clean.” The township tracks the budget effectively and should continue to anticipate necessary capital outlay expenses to ensure that there are “no surprises,” she told board members.
Emmons noted that the report showed that salaried and operational expenses remained stable throughout township departments while property taxes increased by 4 percent. She explained that increase in revenue was due to an increased in property values in the township and was not an increase in taxes paid by property owners. She said the township reported a slight increase in state-shared revenue of 1.9 percent, again adding slightly to the township general fund without any tax increase on township homeowners.
She said the audit showed the township had taken on no new debt and that $898,000 of the general fund balance was utilized for township expenses. The transfer, Emmons explained, included $1.9 million transferred to the police fund and $178,000 transferred to the fire fund to purchase a new pumper truck. Other one-time capital expenses for the fiscal year included a new police vehicle and equipment for Graham Park.
The required investment in the township retirement account is now funded at 90 percent, Emmons explained, due to returns on investments handled by the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System of Michigan (MERS) trust along with the required contributions from the township. That is an increase of 6 percent over the last fiscal year, she concluded.
