Seneca financially strong and growing, says auditor

In the opinion of the Seneca’s outside auditor, the city is financially strong and growing.  Mike Stancil’s accounting and review of Seneca’s finances covering the year ended June 30, 2016 was approved during last night’s meeting of the city council.  Stancil gave the city a clean, unmodified opinion.  Once again, there is no management letter that would indicate improvement is needed in the way the city’s finances are handled.  General city government spent more than it took in during 2015-16.  That is traced, Stancil says, to one-time expenditures such as the cost to build the Bertha Lee Strickland Museum and $358 thousand dollars, which represented the city’s share to settle the Hammond lawsuit.  The auditor said, thanks to what’s referred to fund balance, the money was there to meet those obligations.  Seneca’s utilities division often referred to as the goose that lays the golden egg, cleared enough revenue over expense to create an overall plus for the city.  Stancil warned, however, that the state’s to fund the public employees’ retirement fund will start to cost government entities.  In Seneca’s case, officials say the bill will amount to $175 thousand dollars.  Stancil said that’s enough to equate to a five-mill tax increase.