Auditors give Harlingen ‘clean opinion’ as fund balance climbs to $38.1M

HARLINGEN — The city has amassed its cash reserves into a record stockpile, with its total fund balance climbing to $38.1 million last year, enough to run operations for 212 days, more than double the recommended cache, an annual audit shows.

For the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the certified public accounting firm of Cascos and Associates gave the city a “clean opinion” for its financial bookkeeping as part of its annual comprehensive financial report.

“The opinion for this year is again unmodified,” auditor Aldredo Vera told city commissioners during an April 16 meeting. “Congratulations, that is a clean opinion and that is the most favorable opinion that an entity can receive. It states that the financials are fairly stated and free of material misstatements.”

As part of the city’s general fund, total revenues climbed to $62.1 million while expenditures stood at $62.9 million, with $1.4 million in other funds, Vera said.

While the city’s total assets stood at $42.1 million, total liabilities were at $2.9 million, he said.

Meanwhile, the city’s total fund balance climbed to $38.1 million, with $36.5 million in unassigned funds, Vera said.

“The unassigned fund balance is what we call the rainy day fund,” he said. “This can be used for anything that the city wishes to use it for. We recommend that you use it for one-shot items and not for anything that’s going to be ongoing such as salaries or raises, because you will eventually deplete it.”

While it costs $172,474 to cover daily operations, the budget’s fund balance is big enough to run the city for 212 days, more than the recommended 60 to 90 days, Vera said.

“You all are well over that, so congratulations on maintaining those healthy days of operations,” he told officials.

Since taking office in 2021, City Manager Gabriel Gonzalez has worked to boost the city’s fund balance, Commissioner Daniel Lopez said.

“You actually helped us save $10 million since you came on as city manager,” he told Gonzalez during the meeting.

In the last 10 years, Harlingen’s fund balance has more than doubled, climbing from $15.9 million, Kareem Abdullah, the city’s deputy finance director, said in an interview.

During the fiscal year running from 2022 to 2023, the city’s fund balance rose to $35.6 million, an increase of $4.7 million over the previous year.

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