Seneca “clean” financial audit

Seneca’s outside auditor has given the city a clean opinion on his accounting of the financial records for the government year ended June 30, 2013. “We found no problems, no significant material weaknesses, therefore, there is no management letter,” Stancil told the mayor and council during last night’s meeting at City Hall. For the year, Stancil pegged the value of Seneca’s assets at $49.3 million. However, the audit reflected a $2.8 million drop in its net position. Stancil pinned the decrease on smaller than expected utility revenues and its investments such as a $1 million investment in a privately-developed hotel on E-N 1st Street. City Administrator Greg Dietterick said last year’s rainy summer had a lot to with utility customers using less electricity. Stancil would later make a passionate defense of the city’s investment in the Hampton Inn and Suites and predicted it should pay off in economic benefits inside what’s considered by the federal government as an economically-depressed area.