By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

The Clanton City Council received a favorable audit report for the 2018 fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, 2018, during its Jan. 14 meeting.

Revenues were higher than anticipated, and expenses came in under budget for the general fund.

As in years past, Janice Hull of Hull and Russell, P.C. conducted the audit.

Hull gave a brief report on the audit, and each City Council member had received a copy.

“Your budgeted amounts came out well,” Hull said.

The budget vs. actual comparison for the general fund portion of the audit states, “Revenues of the City of Clanton exceeded budget amounts by $393,573. Expenditures were under budget by $755,685. After transfers, a positive variance of $881,308 showed as net change in fund balances.”

Expenses for police, streets, parks, beautification and capital outlay came in under budget.

Tax revenues from city sales tax, ad valorem taxes, lodging tax, business licenses and building permits were higher than had been anticipated.

The total net position of the city’s Primary Government funds was $32,414,169.

In a letter accompanying the audit, Hull stated the audit found “no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal control; however, we became aware of opportunities for improvement.”

This included more separation of monetary-related duties, getting court funds collected to the City Clerk for deposit on a weekly basis and more timely reporting of financial information to the Electronic Municipal Market Access in accordance with the city’s bond agreements.

During the audited fiscal year, the City of Clanton had $685,000 in long-term debt from 2009 and a little more than $7 million in long-term debt from a bond issue in 2016.

A full copy of the audit is available for the public to view at Clanton City Hall.

Also during the meeting, the City Council unanimously approved:

• The quarterly payment of $30,000 to the Chilton-Clanton Public Library.
• Paying $28,430 for emergency lighting on new Clanton Police Department vehicles and $128,662 for municipal ordinance compensation.
• Clanton Fire Department sending personnel to a conference.
• Purchasing a flat-bed truck from the state bid list. The vehicle is anticipated to cost $93,010.
• Hiring a Co-op student to work in the Parks and Recreation department. Councilman Bobby Cook abstained from the vote on this item.