Hyattsville is one of 26 Maryland towns and cities, out of 156, that did not turn in last year’s audit on time, according to the state’s July 2025 review.
Late audits, as well as the fast-growing costs of both new buildings and retiree medical benefits, are some of the reasons Hyattville’s city council set up an audit committee this spring. The advisory committee is made up of Hyattsville residents, including finance professionals. On Sept. 2, the committee held a final meeting to review Hyattsville’s most recently published audit.
Much of that meeting focused on financial software which the city bought in 2020 for $60,000 in licensing fees per year. The city is still working to implement the software. It is generating too many errors for the city to rely on it for accounting, according to City Treasurer Ronald Brooks.
The delay in switching over to the 2020 software likely trickles down into delays in monthly bookkeeping, financial reporting and audits, according to committee member Colin Eustis, a financial planning professional. In draft recommendations, Eustis suggested making it a priority to use the 2020 system or choose another one.
“Five years is a really really long time for an implementation, and I’ve been through a few of them,” said committee member Nancy Hammond, who works in nonprofit financial management.
The committee also talked about a possible recommendation that the treasurer report more often to the city council. The city charter requires a quarterly report from the treasurer. “I have fallen off the mark,” said treasurer Brooks about that requirement. He has not provided quarterly reports, and said he would start doing so in mid-October.
City Councilmember Danny Schaible (Ward 2) said he thought that all of the financial reports posted to the city’s website needed to be text searchable, rather than in image formats that do not allow searching. He also asked that audit committee members have more access to the city’s outside accounting firm.
Schaible suggested that the city publish financial indicators that show long-term financial trends and risks, as recommended by the municipal advocacy nonprofit Strong Towns. He said he has done some of the calculations himself, and that such forecasts can be unpopular with municipal staff because they can increase taxpayer concern about coming financial challenges.
Committee Chair Daniel Lange, who has a career in audit management, said the committee will send recommendations to Hyattsville’s city council in early September.
The committee met most weeks in July and August, compiling questions to the treasurer about accounting processes before starting to draft recommendations.
Hyattsville has been about two years behind on its audits since as far back as 2011. A new state law imposes financial penalties for cities two years behind on audits. Over the past year, Hyattsville turned in two overdue audits, and is one year behind.