The Helena City Commission voted unanimously at its March 23 meeting to accept the city's fiscal year 2025 financial and federal single audits, both of which received unmodified opinions — meaning auditors found no material misstatements and no major findings. Finance Director Danielson presented the results, noting the city was required to undergo a federal single audit because federal expenditures exceeded $1 million, driven primarily by transit funds and more than $1.4 million in Community Development Block Grants.

The audit committee — consisting of Commissioner Logan, Commissioner Reid, and Mayor Dean as alternate — met March 6 with auditors from Mayor Dussel prior to recommending full commission acceptance. Danielson credited her staff for delivering a clean audit despite significant staff turnover that delayed delivery of the trial balance by one month, pushing the overall audit completion timeline back by two months. The City Manager offered particular praise for Danielson's team, noting they managed the audit process while simultaneously understaffed and launching the budget cycle.

A management letter accompanying the audit flagged several internal control weaknesses, none of which rose to the level of formal audit findings. Among the concerns: staff at the golf course and civic center are both collecting cash and creating deposit records — a segregation-of-duties risk. A similar issue was identified at the Transportation Systems office. Danielson said she has spoken with the Parks and Recreation director about potential remedies but acknowledged that small operations make full internal control separation difficult.

A single staff member in the Finance Director's own office had also been managing and reconciling petty cash — an issue since corrected through a new internal control process. Parking sales reconciliation problems in the first half of the fiscal year have been resolved through new software implemented by the Transportation Services Division. Commissioner Reid noted that some of the same issues appeared in the prior year's management letter, prompting Danielson to outline the steps being taken toward resolution.

IT-related recommendations in the management letter included developing a formal artificial intelligence policy, improving disaster recovery planning, and strengthening user access controls. Danielson said IT staff are awaiting state and federal guidance before finalizing an AI policy, and that the remaining IT items are on the agenda for an upcoming IT committee meeting.