Board of Directors
Amarillo Economic Development Corporation
Amarillo, Texas
Opinions
We have audited the accompanying financial statements of Amarillo Economic Development Corporation (AEDC), a component unit of the City of Amarillo, as of and for the years ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, and the related notes to the financial statements, which collectively comprise AEDC’s basic financial statements, as listed in the table of contents.
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position of AEDC as of September 30, 2022 and 2021, and the respective changes in financial position and cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted ni the United States of America.
Basis for Opinions
We conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America and the standards applicable to financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements section of our report. We are required to be independent of AEDC, and to meet our other ethical responsibilities, in accordance with the relevant ethical requirements related to our audit. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinions.
Change in Accounting Principle
As discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, in 2022, AEDC adopted new accounting guidance, GASBNo. 87, Leases. Our opinions are not modified with respect to this matter.
Responsibilities of Management for the Financial Statements
Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, and for the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, management is required to evaluate whether there are conditions or events, considered int h e aggregate, that raise substantial doubt about AEDC’s ability to continue as a going concern for twelve months beyond the financial statement date, including any currently known information that may raise substantial doubt shortly thereafter.
Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinions. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not absolute assurance and therefore is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and Government Auditing Standards will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. Misstatements are considered material if there is a substantial likelihood that, individually or in the aggregate, they would influence the judgement made by a reasonable user based on the financial statements.
In performing an audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and Government Auditing Standards we:
- Exercise professional judgement and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit.
- Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, and design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks. Such procedures include examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.
- Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of AEDC’s internal control. Accordingly, no such opinion is expressed.
- Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluate the overall presentation of the financial statements.
- Conclude whether, in our judgement, there are conditions or events, considered in the aggregate, that raise substantial doubt about AEDC’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time.
We are required to communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit, significant audit findings, and certain internal control-related matters that we identified during the audit.
Financial Highlights
- The assets of AEDC exceeded its liabilities (net position) at the close of the most recent fiscal year by $79.96 million, which was an increase of $11.03 million increase from the 2021 net position of $68.93 million.
- The AEDC had $24.8 million in sales tax revenue in 2022, compared to $22.5 million in 2021, and $19.9 million in 2020.
- The AEDC has a great deal of liquidity. In 2022, AEDC had $44.4 million in unrestricted cash and investments and sales tax receivable of$2.1 million from the State versus $9.4 million in current liabilities. In 2021, AEDC had $45.1 million in unrestricted cash and investments and sales tax receivable of $1.9 million from the State versus $9.6 million in current liabilities.