For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018, the Springfield Airport Authority received an unmodified, or “clean opinion”, of its financial report from the CPA firm of Eck, Schafer & Punke. Jim Hogge from the CPA firm said, “We found no deficiencies during the audit. The Airport Authority’s staff did a fantastic job preparing for us and the audit went extremely smooth.”
According to the audit, the airport’s net assets, total assets minus total liabilities, was slightly down over last year at $61.9 million. The primary reason for the small change in net assets was due to a decrease in contribution (grant) revenue during the reporting period. In an effort to provide a more realistic picture of the financial posture of the Airport Authority at fiscal year end, the exclusion of depreciation expenses of $4,710,000 and grant revenues of $1,869,000, produced a positive net income value of $2,078,000 for fiscal year 2018. This is the highest reported annual net income, excluding depreciation expenses and grant contributions, in the last ten years.
“The Airport Authority has done an outstanding job of maintaining and diversifying its revenue streams, being disciplined with operational spending and capital investments, managing debt and growing balances in certain reserve funds,” said Mike Houston, Chair of the Airport Authority’s Budget and Finance Committee.
Frank J. Vala, Chair for the Board of Commissioners, summarized the financial report by saying, “The Authority’s staff has done an excellent job managing the numerous challenges within the industry and other uncontrollable factors that affect the execution of the airport’s budget and its long term financial position”. He concluded, “We continue our tradition of excellent financial reporting and fiscal responsibility; all levels of our staff are to be commended for this success.”
The Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting has been awarded to the Springfield Airport Authority by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for its 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, or CAFR. The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.
“One of the Springfield Airport Authority’s core principles is to be enterprising and transparent. Our CAFR underscores our commitment to have an entrepreneurial mindset that emphasizes innovation and financial efficiency while providing a full disclosure of our financial position,” said Frank J. Vala, Chair of the Springfield Airport Authority. Mike Houston, the Authority’s Budget and Finance Committee Chair added, “This recognition is a direct reflection on the efforts of our staff and their attention to detail; they are to be commended for this achievement”.
The Springfield Airport Authority is a multi-year winner of this award having received it the past fifteen (15) consecutive years. In order to be awarded the Certificate of Achievement, a government entity must publish an easily readable and efficiently organized comprehensive annual financial report whose contents conform to program standards. Such reports must satisfy both Generally Acceptable Accounting Principles (GAAP) and applicable legal requirements.
The CAFR has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program, which includes demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the CAFR. The GFOA is a non-profit professional association serving approximately 19,000 government finance professionals. The association is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois with offices in Washington, D.C.
