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2021 Monticello Auditor's Management Communication Management Communication City of Monticello Monticello, Minnesota For the year ended December 31, 2021 June 8, 2022 Management, Honorable Mayor and City Council City of Monticello, Minnesota We have audited the financial statements of the governmental activities, the business-type activities, the aggregate discretely presented component unit, each major fund and the aggregate remaining fund information of the City of Monticello, Minnesota (the City), for the year ended December 31, 2021. Professional standards require that we provide you with information about our responsibilities under generally accepted auditing standards and Government Auditing Standards as well as certain information related to the planned scope and timing of our audit. We have communicated such information in our letter dated December 10, 2021. Professional standards require that we provide you with the following information related to our audit. Significant Audit Findings In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements, we considered the City's internal control over financial reporting (internal control) as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances for the purpose of expressing our opinions on the financial statements, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the City’s internal control. Accordingly, we do not express an opinion on the effectiveness of the City’s internal control. A deficiency in internal control exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent, or detect and correct, misstatements on a timely basis. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the entity’s financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected on a timely basis. A significant deficiency is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control that is less severe than a material weakness, yet important enough to merit attention by those charged with governance. Our consideration of internal control was for the limited purpose described in the first paragraph of this section and was not designed to identify all deficiencies in internal control that might be material weaknesses or significant deficiencies and therefore, material weaknesses or significant deficiencies may exist that were not identified. Given these limitations, during our audit we did not identify any deficiencies in internal control that we consider to be material weaknesses. However, material weaknesses may exist that have not been identified. Compliance and Other Matters As part of obtaining reasonable assurance about whether the City's financial statements are free from material misstatement, we performed tests of its compliance with certain provisions of laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements, noncompliance with which could have a direct and material effect on the financial statement s. However, providing an opinion on compliance with those provisions was not an objective of our audit, and accordingly, we do not express such an opinion. The results of our tests disclosed no instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards or Minnesota statutes. 2 Qualitative Aspects of Accounting Practices Management is responsible for the selection and use of appropriate accounting policies. The significant accounting policies used by the City are described in Note 1 to the financial statements . No new accounting policies were adopted and the application of existing policies were not changed during the year ended December 31, 202 1. We noted no transactions entered into by the governmental unit during the year for which there is a lack of author itative guidance or consensus. All significant transactions have been recognized in the financial statements in the proper period. All significant transactions have been recognized in the financial statements in the proper period. Accounting estimates are an integral part of the financial statements prepared by management and are based on management’s knowledge and experience about past and current events and assumptions about future events. Certain accounting estimates are particularly sensitive because of their significance to the financial statements and because of the possibility that future events affecting them may differ significantly from those expected. The most sensitive estimates affecting the financial statements include depreciation on capital assets, allocation of wage expenses, liability for the City’s pension, and the liability for the City’s other postemployment benefits (OPEB). • Management’s estimate of depreciation is based on estimated useful lives of the assets. Depreciation is calculated using the straight-line method. • Allocations of gross wages and payroll benefits are approved by the City Council within the City’s budget and are derived from each employee’s estimated time to be spent servicing the respective function of the City. These allocations are also used in allocating accrued compensated absences payable. • Management’s estimate of its OPEB liability is based on several factors including, but not limited to, anticipated retirement age for active employees, life expectancy, turnover, and healthcare cost trend rate. • Management’s estimate of its pension liabilities and assets are based on several factors including, but not limited to, anticipated investment return rate, retirement age for active employees, life expectancy, salary increases and form of annuity payment upon retirement. We evaluated the key factors and assumptions used to develop these accounting estimates in determining that it is reasonable in relation to the financial statements taken as a whole. The disclosures in the financial statements are neutral, consistent, and clear. Certain financial statement disclosures are particularly sensitive because of their significance to financial statement users. Difficulties Encountered in Performing the Audit We encountered no significant difficulties in dealing with management in performing and completing our audit. Corrected and Uncorrected Misstatements Professional standards require us to accumulate all known and likely misstatements identified during the audit, other than those that are trivial, and communicate them to the appropriate level of management. No misstatements were noted. Disagreements with Management For purposes of this letter, professional standards define a disagreement with management as a financial accounting, reporting, or auditing matter, whether or not resolved to our satisfaction, that could be significant to the financial statements or the auditor’s report. We are pleased to report that no such disagreements arose during the course of our audit. Management Representations We have requested certain representations from management that are included in the management representations letter dated June 8, 2022. 3 Management Consultations with Other Independent Accountants In some cases, management may decide to consult with other accountants about auditing and accounting matters, similar to obtaining a “second opinion” on certain situations. If a consultation involves application of an accounting principle to the City’s financial statements or a determination of the type of auditor’s opinion that may be expressed on those statements, our professional standards require the consulting accountant to check with us to determine that the consultant has all the relevant facts. To our knowledge, there were no such consultations with other accountants. Other Audit Findings or Issues We generally discuss a variety of matters, including the application of accounting principles and auditing standards, with management each year prior to retention as the City’s auditors. However, these discussions occurred in the normal course of our professional relationship and our responses were not a condition to our retention. Other Matters We applied certain limited procedures to the required supplementary information (RSI) (Management’s Discussion and Analysis, the Schedules of Employer’s Shares of the Net Pension Liability, the Schedules of Employer’s Contributions, the Schedule of Changes in Net Pension Liability (Asset) and Related Ratios and Schedule of Funding Progress, the Schedule of changes in the City’s OPEB Liability and related ratios), which is information that supplements the basic financial statements. Our procedures consisted of inquiries of management regarding the methods of preparing the information and comparing the information for consistency with management’s responses to our inquiries, the basic financial statements, and other knowledge we obtained during our audit of the basic financial statements. We did not audit the RSI and do not express an opinion or provide any assurance on the RSI. We were engaged to report on the supplementary information (combining and individual fund financial statements and schedules), which accompany the financial statements but are not RSI. With respect to this supplementary information, we made certain inquiries of management and evaluated the form, content, and methods of preparing the information to determine that the information complies with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, the method of preparing it has not changed from the prior period, and the information is appropriate and complete in relation to our audit of the financial statements. We compared and reconciled the supplementary information to the underlying accounting records used to prepare the financial statements or to the financial statements themselves. We were not engaged to report on the introductory section or the statistical section, which accompany the financial statements but are not RSI. We did not audit or perform other procedures on this other information and we do not express an opinion or provide any assurance on them. 4 Future Accounting Standard Changes The following Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statements have been issued and may have an impact on future City financial statements: (1) GASB Statement No. 87 - Leases Summary The objective of this Statement is to better meet the information needs of financial statement users by improving accounting and financial reporting for leases by governments. This Statement increases the usefulness of governments’ financial statements by requiring recognition of certain lease assets and liabilities for leases that previously were classified as operating leases and recognized as inflows of resources or outflows of resources based on the payment provisions of the contract. It establishes a single model for lease accounting based on the foundational principle that leases are financings of the right to use an underlying asset. Under this Statement, a lessee is required to recognize a lease liability and an intangible right-to-use lease asset, and a lessor is required to recognize a lease receivable and a deferred inflow of resources, thereby enhancing the relevance and consistency of information about governments’ leasing activities. Effective Date and Transition The requirements of this Statement are effective for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2021, and all reporting periods thereafter. Leases should be recognized and measured using the facts and circumstances that exist at the beginning of the period of implementation (or, if applied to earlier periods, the beginning of the earliest period restated). However, lessors should not restate the assets underlying their existing sales-type or direct financing leases. Any residual assets for those leases become the carrying values of the underlying assets. How the Changes in This Statement Will Improve Accounting and Financial Reporting This Statement will increase the usefulness of governments’ financial statements by requiring reporting of certain lease liabilities that currently are not reported. It will enhance comparability of financial statements among governments by requiring lessees and lessors to report leases under a single model. This Statement also will enhance the decision - usefulness of the information provided to financial statement users by requiring notes to financial statements related to the timing, significance, and purpose of a government’s leasing arrangements. 5 Future Accounting Standard Changes (Continued) GASB Statement No. 91 - Conduit Debt Obligations Summary The primary objectives of this Statement are to provide a single method of reporting conduit debt obligations by issuers and eliminate diversity in practice associated with (1) commitments extended by issuers, (2) arrangements associated with conduit debt obligations, and (3) related note disclosures. This Statement achieves those objectives by clarifying the existing definition of a conduit debt obligation; establishing that a conduit debt obligation is not a liability of the issue r; establishing standards for accounting and financial reporting of additional commitments and voluntary commitments extended by issuers and arrangements associated with conduit debt obligations; and improving required note disclosures. All conduit debt obligations involve the issuer making a limited commitment. Some issuers extend additional commitments or voluntary commitments to support debt service in the event the third party is, or will be, unable to do so. An issuer should not recognize a conduit debt obligation as a liability. However, an issuer should recognize a liability associated with an additional commitment or a voluntary commitment to support debt service if certain recognition criteria are met. As long as a conduit debt obligation is outs tanding, an issuer that has made an additional commitment should evaluate at least annually whether those criteria are met. An issuer that has made only a limited commitment should evaluate whether those criteria are met when an event occurs that causes the issuer to reevaluate its willingness or ability to support the obligor’s debt service through a voluntary commitment. This Statement also addresses arrangements - often characterized as leases - that are associated with conduit debt obligations. In those arrangements, capital assets are constructed or acquired with the proceeds of a conduit debt obligation and used by third-party obligors in the course of their activities. Payments from third-party obligors are intended to cover and coincide with debt service payments. During those arrangements, issuers retain the titles to the capital assets. Those titles may or may not pass to the obligors at the end of the arrangements. This Statement requires issuers to disclose general information about their conduit debt obligations, organized by type of commitment, including the aggregate outstanding principal amount of the issuers’ conduit debt obligations and a description of each type of commitment. Issuers that recognize liabilities related to supporting the de bt service of conduit debt obligations also should disclose information about the amount recognized and how the liabilities changed during the reporting period. Effective Date and Transition The requirements of this Statement are effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2021. Earlier application is encouraged. How the Changes in This Statement Will Improve Accounting and Financial Reporting The requirements of this Statement will improve financial reporting by eliminating the existin g option for issuers to report conduit debt obligations as their own liabilities, thereby ending significant diversity in practice. The clarified definition will resolve stakeholders’ uncertainty as to whether a given financing is, in fact, a conduit debt obligation. Requiring issuers to recognize liabilities associated with additional commitments extended by issuers and to recognize assets and deferred inflows of resources related to certain arrangements associated with conduit debt obligations also will e liminate diversity, thereby improving comparability in reporting by issuers. Revised disclosure requirements will provide financial statement users with better information regarding the commitments issuers extend and the likelihood that they will fulfill t hose commitments. That information will inform users of the potential impact of such commitments on the financial resources of issuers and help users assess issuers’ roles in conduit debt obligations . 6 Future Accounting Standard Changes (Continued) GASB Statement No. 92 - Omnibus 2020 Summary The objectives of this Statement are to enhance comparability in accounting and financial reporting and to improve the consistency of authoritative literature by addressing practice issues that have been identified during implementation and application of certain GASB Statements. This Statement addresses a variety of topics and includes specific provisions about the following: • The effective date of Statement No. 87, Leases, and Implementation Guide No. 2019 -3, Leases, for interim financial reports • Reporting of intra-entity transfers of assets between a primary government employer and a component unit defined benefit pension plan or defined benefit other postemployment benefit (OPEB) plan • The applicability of Statements No. 73, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pensions and Related Assets That Are Not within the Scope of GASB Statement 68, and Amendments to Certain Provisions of GASB Statements 6 7 and 68, as amended, and No. 74, Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefit Plans Other Than Pension Plans, as amended, to reporting assets accumulated for postemployment benefits • The applicability of certain requirements of Statement No. 84, Fiduciary Activities, to postemployment benefit arrangements • Measurement of liabilities (and assets, if any) related to asset retirement obligations (AROs) in a government acquisition • Reporting by public entity risk pools for amounts that are recoverable from r einsurers or excess insurers • Reference to nonrecurring fair value measurements of assets or liabilities in authoritative literature • Terminology used to refer to derivative instruments. Effective Date and Transition The requirements of this Statement are effective as follows: • The requirements related to the effective date of Statement 87 and Implementation Guide 2019 -3, reinsurance recoveries, and terminology used to refer to derivative instruments are effective upon issuance. • The requirements related to intra-entity transfers of assets and those related to the applicability of Statements 73 and 74 are effective for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2020. • The requirements related to application of Statement 84 to postemployment benefit arrangements and those related to nonrecurring fair value measurements of assets or liabilities are effective for reporting periods beginning after June 15, 2020. • The requirements related to the measurement of liabilities (and assets, if any) associated with AROs in a government acquisition are effective for government acquisitions occurring in reporting periods beginning after June 15, 2020. Earlier application is encouraged and is permitted by topic. 7 Future Accounting Standard Changes (Continued) How the Changes in This Statement Will Improve Accounting and Financial Reporting The requirements of this Statement will enhance comparability in the application of accounting and financial reporting requirements and will improve the consistency of authoritative literature. More comparable reporting will improve the usefulness of information for users of state and local government financial statements. GASB Statement No. 93 - Replacement of Interbank Offered Rates Summary The objective of this Statement is to address those and other accounting and financial reporting implications that result from the replacement of an IBOR. This Statement achieves that objective by: • Providing exceptions for certain hedging derivative instruments to the hedge accounting termination provisions when an IBOR is replaced as the reference rate of the hedging derivative instrument’s variable payment • Clarifying the hedge accounting termination provisions when a hedg ed item is amended to replace the reference rate • Clarifying that the uncertainty related to the continued availability of IBORs does not, by itself, affect the assessment of whether the occurrence of a hedged expected transaction is probable • Removing LIBOR as an appropriate benchmark interest rate for the qualitative evaluation of the effectiveness of an interest rate swap • Identifying a Secured Overnight Financing Rate and the Effective Federal Funds Rate as appropriate benchmark interest rates for the qualitative evaluation of the effectiveness of an interest rate swap • Clarifying the definition of reference rate, as it is used in Statement 53, as amended • Providing an exception to the lease modifications guidance in Statement 87, as amended, for certain lease contracts that are amended solely to replace an IBOR as the rate upon which variable payments depend Effective Date and Transition The removal of LIBOR as an appropriate benchmark interest rate is effective for reporting periods ending after December 31, 2021. All other requirements of this Statement are effective for reporting periods beginning after June 15, 2020. Earlier application is encouraged. The exceptions to the existing provisions for hedge accounting termination and lease modifications in this Statement will reduce the cost of the accounting and financial reporting ramifications of replacing IBORs with other reference rates. The reliability and relevance of reported information will be maintained by requiring that agreements that effectively maintain an existing hedging arrangement continue to be accounted for in the same manner as before the replacement of a reference rate. As a result, this Statement will preserve the consistency and comparability of reporting hedging derivative instruments and leases after governments amend or replace agreements to replace an IBOR. How the Changes in This Statement Will Improve Accounting and Financial Reporting The requirements of this Statement will enhance comparability in the application of acco unting and financial reporting requirements and will improve the consistency of authoritative literature. More comparable reporting will improve the usefulness of information for users of state and local government financial statements. 8 Future Accounting Standard Changes (Continued) GASB Statement No. 94 - Public-Private and Public-Public Partnerships and Availability Payment Arrangements Summary The primary objective of this Statement is to improve financial reporting by addressing issues related to public-private and public-public partnership arrangements (PPPs). As used in this Statement, a PPP is an arrangement in which a government (the transferor) contracts with an operator (a governmental or nongovernmental entity) to provide pu blic services by conveying control of the right to operate or use a nonfinancial asset, such as infrastructure or other capital asset (the underlying PPP asset), for a period of time in an exchange or exchange-like transaction. Some PPPs meet the definition of a service concession arrangement (SCA), which the Board defines in this Statement as a PPP in which (1) the operator collects and is compensated by fees from third parties; (2) the transferor determines or has the ability to modify or approve which services the operator is required to provide, to whom the operator is required to provide the services, and the prices or rates that can be charged for the services; and (3) the transferor is entitled to significant residual inte rest in the service utility of the underlying PPP asset at the end of the arrangement. This Statement also provides guidance for accounting and financial reporting for availability payment arrangements (APAs). As defined in this Statement, an APA is an arrangement in which a governme nt compensates an operator for services that may include designing, constructing, financing, maintaining, or operating an underlying nonfinancial asset for a period of time in an exchange or exchange-like transaction. Effective Date and Transition The requirements of this Statement are effective for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2022, and all reporting periods thereafter. Earlier application is encouraged. PPPs should be recognized and measured using the facts and circumstances that exist at the beginning of the period of implementation (or if applicable to earlier periods, the beginning of the earliest period restated). How the Changes in This Statement Will Improve Accounting and Financial Reporting The requirements of this Statement will improve financial reporting by establishing the definitions of PPPs and APAs and providing uniform guidance on accounting and financial reporting for transactions that meet those definitions. That uniform guidance will provide more relevant and reliable information for financial statement users and create greater consistency in practice. This Statement will enhance the decision usefulness of a government’s financial statements by requiring governments to report assets and liabilities related to PPPs consistently and disclose important information about PPP transactions. The required disclosures will allow users to understand the scale and important aspects of a government’s PPPs and evaluate a government’s future obligations and assets resulting from PPPs. 9 Future Accounting Standard Changes (Continued) GASB Statement No. 96 - Subscription-Based Information Technology Arrangements Summary This Statement provides guidance on the accounting and financial reporting for subscription -based information technology arrangements (SBITAs) for government end users (governments). This Statement (1) defines a SBITA; (2) establishes that a SBITA results in a right-to-use subscription asset - an intangible asset - and a corresponding subscription liability; (3) provides the capitalization criteria for outlays other than subscription payments, including implementation costs of a SBITA; and (4) requires note disclosures regarding a SBITA. To the extent relevant, the standards for SBITAs are based on the standards established in Statement No. 87, Leases, as amended. Under this Statement, a government generally should recognize a right-to-use subscription asset - an intangible asset - and a corresponding subscription liability. A government should recognize the subscription liability at the commencement of the subscription term, - which is when the subscription asset is placed into service. The subscription liability should be initially measured at the present value of subscription payments expected to be made during the subscription term. Future subscription payments should be discounted using the interest rate the SBITA vendor charges the government, which may be implicit, or the government’s incremental borrowing rate if the interest rate is not readily determinable. A government should recognize amortization of the discount on the subscription liability as an outflow of resources (for example, interest expense) in subsequent financial reporting periods. This Statement provides an exception for short-term SBITAs. Short-term SBITAs have a maximum possible term under the SBITA contract of 12 months (or less), including any options to extend, regardless of their probability of being exercised. Subscription payments for short-term SBITAs should be recognized as outflows of resources. This Statement requires a government to disclose descriptive information about its SBITAs other than short -term SBITAs, such as the amount of the subscription asset, accumulated amortization, other payments not included in the measurement of a subscription liability, principal and interest requirements for the subscription liability, and other essential information. Effective Date and Transition The requirements of this Statement are effective for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2022, and all reporting periods thereafter. Earlier application is encouraged. Assets and liabilities resulting from SBITAs should be recognized and measured using the facts and circumstances that existed at the beginning of the fiscal year in which this Stateme nt is implemented. Governments are permitted, but are not required, to include in the measurement of the subscription asset capitalizable outlays associated with the initial implementation stage and the operation and additional implementation stage incurred prior to the implementation of this Statement. How the Changes in This Statement Will Improve Accounting and Financial Reporting The requirements of this Statement will improve financial reporting by establishing a definition for SBITAs and providing uniform guidance for accounting and financial reporting for transactions that meet that definition. That definition and uniform guidance will result in greater consistency in practice. Establishing the capitalization criteria for implementation costs also will reduce diversity and improve comparability in financial reporting by governments. This Statement also will enhance the relevance and reliability of a government’s financial statements by requiring a government to report a subscription asset and subscription liability for a SBITA and to disclose essential information about the arrangement. The disclosures will allow users to understand the scale and important aspects of a government’s SBITA activities and evaluate a government’s obligations and assets resulting from SBITAs. 10 Future Accounting Standard Changes (Continued) GASB Statement No. 97 - Certain Component Unit Criteria, and Accounting and Financial Reporting for Internal Revenue Code Section 457 Deferred Compensation Plans - an amendment of GASB Statements No. 14 and No. 84, and a supersession of GASB Statement No. 32 Summary The primary objectives of this Statement are to (1) increase consistency and comparability related to the reporting of fiduciary component units in circumstances in which a potential component unit does not have a governing board and the primary government performs the duties that a governing board typically would perform; (2) mitigate costs associated with the reporting of certain defined contribution pension plans, defined contribution other postemployment benefit (OPEB) plans, and employee benefit plans other than pension plans or OPEB plans (other employee benefit plans) as fiduciary component units in fiduciary fund financial statements; and (3) e nhance the relevance, consistency, and comparability of the accounting and financial reporting for Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 457 deferred compensation plans (Section 457 plans) that meet the definition of a pension plan and for benefits provided through those plans. This Statement requires that for purposes of determining whether a primary government is financially accountable for a potential component unit, except for a potential component unit that is a defined contribution pension plan, a defi ned contribution OPEB plan, or another employee benefit plan (for example, certain Section 457 plans), the absence of a governing board should be treated the same as the appointment of a voting majority of a governing board if the primary government performs the duties that a governing board typically would perform. This Statement also requires that the financial burden criterion in paragraph 7 of Statement No. 84, Fiduciary Activities, be applicable to only defined benefit pension plans and defined benefit OPEB plans that are administered through trusts that meet the criteria in paragraph 3 of Statement No. 67, Financial Reporting for Pension Plans, or paragraph 3 of Statement No. 74, Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefit Plans Other Than Pension Plans, respectively. This Statement (1) requires that a Section 457 plan be classified as either a pension plan or another employee benefit plan depending on whether the plan meets the definition of a pension plan and (2) clarifies that Statement 84, as amended, should be applied to all arrangements organized under IRC Section 457 to determine whether those arrangements should be reported as fiduciary activities. This Statement supersedes the remaining provisions of Statement No. 32, Accounting and Financ ial Reporting for Internal Revenue Code Section 457 Deferred Compensation Plans, as amended, regarding investment valuation requirements for Section 457 plans. As a result, investments of all Section 457 plans should be measured as of the end of the plan’s reporting period in all circumstances. Effective Date and Transition The requirements of this Statement that (1) exempt primary governments that perform the duties that a governing board typically performs from treating the absence of a governing board the same as the appointment of a voting majority of a governing board in determining whether they are financially accountable for defined contribution pension plans, defined contribution OPEB plans, or other employee benefit plans and (2) limit the applica bility of the financial burden criterion in paragraph 7 of Statement 84 to defined benefit pension plans and defined benefit OPEB plans that are administered through trusts that meet the criteria in paragraph 3 of Statement 67 or paragraph 3 of Statement 7 4, respectively, are effective immediately. The requirements of this Statement that are related to the accounting and financial reporting for Section 457 plans are effective for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2021. For purposes of determining wheth er a primary government is financially accountable for a potential component unit, the requirements of this Statement that provide that for all other arrangements, the absence of a governing board be treated the same as the appointment of a voting majority of a governing board if the primary government performs the duties that a governing board typically would perform, are effective for reporting periods beginning after June 15, 2021. Earlier application of those requirements is encouraged and permitted by requirement as specified within this Statement. 11 Future Accounting Standard Changes (Continued) The Board considered the effective dates for the requirements of this Statement in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and in concert with Statement No. 95, Postponement of the Effective Dates of Certain Authoritative Guidance. How the Changes in This Statement Will Improve Accounting and Financial Reporting The requirements of this Statement will result in more consistent financial reporting of defined contribution pension plans, defined contribution OPEB plans, and other employee benefit plans, while mitigating the costs associated with reporting those plans. The requirements also will enhance the relevance, consistency, and comparability of (1) the informa tion related to Section 457 plans that meet the definition of a pension plan and the benefits provided through those plans and (2) investment information for all Section 457 plans. GASB Statement No. 98 – The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report Summary This Statement establishes the term annual comprehensive financial report and its acronym ACFR. That new term and acronym replace instances of comprehensive annual financial report and its acronym in generally accepted accounting principles for state and local governments. This Statement was developed in response to concerns raised by stakeholders that the common pronunciation of the acronym for comprehensive annual financial report sounds like a profoundly objectionable racial slur. This Statemen t’s introduction of the new term is founded on a commitment to promoting inclusiveness. Effective Date and Transition The requirements of this Statement are effective for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2021. Earlier application is encouraged. (1)Note. From GASB Pronouncements Summaries. Copyright 2021 by the Financial Accounting Foundation, 401 Merritt 7, Norwalk, CT 06856, USA, and is reproduced with permission. * * * * * Restriction on Use This communication is intended solely for the information and use of management, City Council, the Minnesota Office of the State Auditor and others within the City and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties. Our audit would not necessarily disclose all weaknesses in the system because it was based on selected tests of the accounting records and related data. The comments and recommendations in the report are purely constructive in nature, and should be read in this context. If you have any questions or wish to discuss any of the items contained in this letter, please feel free to contact us at your convenience. We wish to thank you for the continued opportunity to be of service and for the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by your staf f. Abdo Minneapolis, Minnesota June 8, 2022 12