The Hyattsville City Council Audit Committee recommended that Hyattsville staff complete their monthly book-keeping in a third of the time while presenting their full report on the 2023 fiscal year (FY23) at the October 6 City Council meeting.
As part of the first of seven audit committee recommendations to the council, titled “Steps Towards Timely Financial Reports”, the committee suggests that city’s finance staff finish their monthly book-keeping within 10 business days after the end of the month, rather than within the month after, in party by automating more steps.
Audit Committee chair Daniel Lange hoped this would help address the consistent delays in City Council reporting fiscal year audits. “A material weakness for the timeliness of our financial reporting is…the main reason why our audit committee was formed,” said Lange.
Hyattsville City Council has not submitted an on-time financial audit within the Maryland state filing deadlines since 2009. It is one of 26 cities and towns, out of 156 in the state of Maryland, that did not submit their FY25 audit on time according to Maryland’s July 2025 report. The Audit Committee was created in January 2025 to review the finances of the City Council and provide recommendations for improving the audit reporting process.
The recommendations were informed by the Government Accountability Office Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, or GAO Green Book, and the FY23 audit conducted by accounting firm Lindsey + Associates.
Lange said the city received a “clean” opinion, meaning the FY23 report was fairly presented and representative of the Council’s financial position. However, the Audit Committee identified misstatements, areas of noncompliance, and delays in submitting the FY23 that require a “corrective action plan”.
The Audit Committee says city finance staff must start providing quarterly financial reports and process the backlog of FY24 and FY25 audits, both of which were not submitted within their deadlines.
Hyattsville Treasurer Ron Brooks said the Council should receive the first quarterly report for FY26 “about two to three weeks” after the October 6 Council meeting, in keeping with the timeline he set at the September 2 Audit Committee meeting. “Within the next month after the close of the quarter, the council will be getting an update on the city’s finances and expenditures,” said Brooks.
In addition to the timeliness of reporting, the Audit Committee recommended that searchable pdfs, graphs, and charts be posted on the Council’s website for public review. The Council’s meeting minutes have not publicly displayed audit presentations since 2014, unlike the neighboring communities of Takoma Park and College Park, which have recent audit presentations publicly available on their councils’ respective websites.
Audit Committee vice chair Colin Eustis said the Council could improve upon their timeliness by automating certain financial processes, hiring new staff specifically for financial reporting, and modernizing reporting procedures. “These are general recommendations that we hope that, if implemented, can cut down on that time,” said Eustis. On October 3, Hyattsville City Council posted a job listing for a Deputy Budget Director that would work under the Treasurer and assist with the oversight and communication of Hyattsville’s financial reports.
This is the first series of recommendations, which are strictly advisory, the Audit Committee has made based on an annual financial report. The Audit Committee will continue to make recommendations to the Council based on their review of future fiscal year audits.
The Audit Committee’s recommendations were well-received by both Councilmembers and community members. “Really impressive work and I hope that encourages people to sign up for city committees,” said Dan Broder (Ward 2) during the Council’s public comment. Councilmember Joanne Waszczak (Ward 1) said it was “an awesome amount of very detailed work” that “lowers the temperature” on the concerns Council had about the auditing process.
The next City Council Meeting will take place on November 3, 2025 at 7pm. The Audit Committee can be contacted for public questions and comments at auditcommittee@hyattsville.org.