Questions for records review
Review the evidence and the specific records that could resolve each question before deciding which requests to send.
These are unresolved research questions, not findings of wrongdoing. All requests remain drafts; none have been sent.
Download the review checklist · Review and download request drafts · Source exceptions and coverage
FY2025 school opening-balance correctionshigh · What entries and reconciliation connect the $1,214,893 General Purpose School Fund beginning-balance correction to the $2,877,152 governmentwide beginning-balance correction?
What the record establishes
The FY2025 audit publishes both corrections. They have different reporting scopes, so their difference is not evidence of an error and neither amount is current-year revenue.
Records needed
- Existing reconciliation schedule for the $1,214,893 General Purpose School Fund beginning-balance correction
- Journal entries and account-level support for that correction
- Existing schedule connecting fund-level corrections to the $2,877,152 governmentwide correction
- Any approved adjustment explanation or corrected prior-year schedule
Sources
School debt-service opening-balance carry-forwardhigh · Why does the FY2022 Debt Service – Schools schedule begin at $1,997,652 when the FY2021 predecessor schedule ends at $1,990,474?
What the record establishes
The $7,178 difference equals an interest amount printed in FY2021 as both an expenditure and another financing use. Each individual schedule is arithmetically consistent when the published rows are retained, so a correction cannot be inferred from the equality alone.
Records needed
- FY2021 year-end reconciliation and FY2022 opening-balance schedule for the school debt-service fund
- Opening-balance and adjusting journal entries supporting the $1,997,652 beginning balance
- Chart-of-accounts crosswalk or fund reclassification record connecting the predecessor and successor presentations
- Any corrected or superseding statement
Sources
School Construction transfer to Education Capital Projectshigh · Did School Construction send the $564,298 received by Education Capital Projects in FY2025?
What the record establishes
School Construction reports $1,505,826 of transfers out. A separately supported $941,528 went toward school debt; the $564,298 remainder equals Education Capital Projects transfers in. This fully reconciles the totals but does not explicitly identify the sender. Further review of the audit transfer note and budget account detail found no explicit counterparty for the residual. The separate $7,178 prior-year carry difference is not evidence for this route.
Records needed
- Interfund transfer ledger entries for the $564,298 receipt and the $1,505,826 School Construction transfer total
- Journal vouchers showing sending and receiving funds, posting dates and account codes
- Supporting approvals and any year-end transfer reconciliation schedule
Sources
Fleet Fund FY2018 and FY2019 cash-flow conflictshigh · What reconciles the FY2018 Fleet receipt and acquisition differences, and is there a corrected FY2019 summary?
What the record establishes
FY2018 has offsetting $1,523 differences in receipts and acquisitions that cannot be resolved by ending cash. FY2019 fund-specific ending cash of $32,554 reconciles and is carried into FY2020, supporting that balance over the conflicting $682,916 summary. No explicit erratum was located.
Records needed
- Fleet cash, receivable and capital-asset ledger extracts supporting the identified FY2018 and FY2019 figures
- Year-end reconciliation schedules and adjusting entries for both years
- Any correspondence, reconciliation memo, corrected statement or superseding statement addressing the differences
Sources
Sanitation FY2019 cash-flow differencehigh · What supports the FY2019 Sanitation reported cash decrease and ending balance when the listed cash-flow rows differ by $8,874?
What the record establishes
The listed flows total an $83,532 decrease, but the schedule reports a $74,658 decrease and $228,799 ending cash. The $8,874 difference equals the listed asset acquisition; that equality is not proof of a correction. FY2020 opening cash corroborates $228,799. Its $8,874 Other adjustment does not establish the acquisition treatment.
Records needed
- FY2019 Sanitation cash-reconciliation schedule
- Adjusting entries supporting the $8,874 capital-asset entry and reported cash change
- Cash ledger support for the $228,799 ending balance
- Any corrected or superseding cash-flow statement
Sources
Federal Projects expenditure declinemedium · Which grants and closeouts account for the $2,061,895 decline in Federal Projects expenditures from FY2024 to FY2025?
What the record establishes
The fund statements locate the decline in instruction, support services and capital outlay. FY2024 federal-award schedules provide grant context, including Education Stabilization subprograms, but their scope does not reconcile to the fund statement.
Records needed
- Grant-level FY2024 and FY2025 Federal Projects general-ledger detail
- Grant award, reimbursement and closeout schedules for grants driving the change
- Crosswalk from grant or project codes to the fund-statement instruction, support-services and capital-outlay categories
Sources
- FY2024 audit — Federal Projects expenditures · PDF page 44
- FY2025 audit — Federal Projects expenditures · PDF page 41
- FY2024 audit — federal award schedule · PDF page 194
No request drafted yet; review the question and scope first.
Education Capital Projects expenditure declinemedium · Which projects and payments account for the $2,655,168 decline in Education Capital Projects expenditures from FY2024 to FY2025?
What the record establishes
Expenditures fell from $3,219,466 to $564,298. The audit says the related new-school project was completed, and March 2025 council records discuss Westside improvements, but neither source allocates the fund-level decline to specific work.
Records needed
- FY2024 and FY2025 Education Capital Projects project ledger with project and account codes
- Project-level invoice and payment register for the expenditures in those years
- Project closeout schedules for the new-school work
- Records showing whether Westside improvements were posted to this fund
Sources
- FY2024 audit — Education Capital Projects · PDF page 36
- FY2025 audit — Education Capital Projects · PDF page 33
- FY2025 audit — school construction narrative · PDF page 24
- March 2025 council record — Westside context · PDF page 5
No request drafted yet; review the question and scope first.
USDA debt refinancing and repayment tracemedium · What was the complete closing and payment sequence for the approximately $30 million earlier debt repayment and later USDA debt-service activity?
What the record establishes
Reviewed meeting material gives refinancing context and the FY2024–25 schedule confirms current fund activity, but the packet does not prove final passage of every proposed action or trace the earlier repayment through closing.
Records needed
- Final debt closing statements and sources-and-uses schedules
- Debt-service payment ledger covering the earlier repayment and refinancing
- Executed resolutions, loan agreements and payoff confirmations
- Reconciliation from closing proceeds and transfers to recorded principal and interest payments
Sources
- FY2024 budget book — USDA debt-service actuals · PDF page 102
- FY2025 budget book — USDA debt-service actuals · PDF page 104
No request drafted yet; review the question and scope first.
Capital Improvement project and pass-through grant detailmedium · Which court, storm-water and pass-through grant transactions account for the material year-to-year Capital Improvement changes?
What the record establishes
The audited schedules establish annual totals and reviewed records provide project or grant context. Total grant revenue cannot identify pass-through recipients or reconcile individual projects to expenditure changes.
Records needed
- Court-project closeout ledger and final payment records
- Storm-water project invoice and payment register
- Pass-through grant award list with recipients, project codes and approved amounts
- Grant disbursement ledger and reimbursement schedules for FY2024 and FY2025
Sources
FY2025 additional pension contribution postingsmedium · How was the $629,000 General Fund pension budget increase posted across departments, and which actual payments were regular versus additional contributions?
What the record establishes
The finance material documents department-level budget allocations, and the audit identifies the citywide increase as an additional defined-benefit pension contribution. Appropriations do not establish the actual postings or payment dates.
Records needed
- FY2025 general-ledger detail for all General Fund retirement accounts affected by the $629,000 amendment
- Journal entries allocating the additional contribution by department
- Payment register and remittance support distinguishing regular and additional pension contributions
- Reconciliation from the adopted amendment to actual year-end retirement expense
Sources
- FY2025 amendment — department pension allocations · PDF page 119
- FY2025 amendment — budget detail · PDF page 120
- FY2025 audit — pension amendment context · PDF page 24
No request drafted yet; review the question and scope first.
Police and fire payroll driversmedium · How much of the material salary and overtime changes came from pay rates, vacancies, staffing transfers or account allocation?
What the record establishes
Published actuals establish the changes, but reviewed records do not quantify each cause. The FY2025 pension amendment concerns a later year and cannot explain the FY2024 Police Special Services regular-salary increase.
Records needed
- Payroll totals by position and pay type for Police Special Services, Police Patrol and Fire Suppression for FY2023 through FY2025
- Vacancy, hire, separation and interdepartmental transfer dates for those units
- Pay-plan tables and effective dates
- Overtime detail by employee or position with sensitive personal fields redacted
Sources
- FY2024 budget book — Police Special Services salary actuals · PDF page 66
- FY2024 budget book — Police Patrol actuals · PDF page 68
- FY2025 budget book — Police Patrol actuals · PDF page 69
- FY2024 budget book — Fire Suppression actuals · PDF page 48
- FY2025 budget book — Fire Suppression actuals · PDF page 49
No request drafted yet; review the question and scope first.
Project, contract and vendor payment detailmedium · Which vendors, projects and payment dates account for the identified Street Maintenance, Cemeteries and Traffic Control actuals?
What the record establishes
Reviewed memoranda, bids and authorizations provide scope and budget context. They do not reconcile contract amounts or planned purchases to the actual fiscal-year expenditures.
Records needed
- Street Maintenance project invoices, payment dates and purchase-order history for FY2024 and FY2025
- Cemeteries contract ledger and invoices supporting the $121,350 actual
- Traffic Control FY2025 purchase orders, invoices and contract amendments
- Vendor, project and account-code crosswalk for the requested transactions
Sources
- FY2024 budget book — Street Maintenance actuals · PDF page 85
- FY2025 budget book — Street Maintenance actuals · PDF page 86
- FY2025 budget book — Cemeteries actuals · PDF page 35
- FY2025 budget book — Traffic Control actuals · PDF page 88
No request drafted yet; review the question and scope first.
City Hall, legal-services and Conference Center actualsmedium · Which invoices and ledger postings account for the identified City Hall insurance, City Council legal-services and Conference Center actual expenses?
What the record establishes
The FY2025 finance memorandum explains related budget amendments, including lawsuit deductibles, city-attorney fees and a transfer intended for future Conference Center work. The amendment amounts are appropriations, and the transfer is funding; neither establishes the actual expenses paid in the year.
Records needed
- FY2025 City Hall liability-insurance invoice and ledger detail, including the matters tied to the cited deductibles
- FY2025 City Council legal-services invoice register and ledger detail by matter or service category
- Conference Center invoice, purchase-order and payment detail for floor-crack repairs, painting and tables
- Existing reconciliation from the cited budget amendments and transfer to actual year-end expense
Sources
- May 2025 finance memorandum — amendment explanations · PDF page 118
- May 2025 amendment detail · PDF page 120
- FY2025 budget book — City Council actuals · PDF page 27
- FY2025 budget book — City Hall actuals · PDF page 29
- FY2025 audit — Conference Center statement · PDF page 43
No request drafted yet; review the question and scope first.
Fleet FY2024 acquisitions and capital contributionlow · Does transaction-level support reconcile the FY2024 budget-book purchase total of $573,834 to audited acquisitions of $650,679 and the separately reported $76,845 capital contribution?
What the record establishes
The $76,845 difference equals the reported capital contribution, but equality alone does not show that the budget-book and audit measures reconcile or share the same basis.
Records needed
- FY2024 Fleet capital-asset acquisition ledger and invoice register
- Support for the $76,845 capital contribution, including asset or cash classification
- Existing crosswalk between the budget-book purchase total and audited cash-flow acquisitions
Sources
- FY2024 audit — Fleet acquisitions and capital contribution · PDF page 156
- FY2024 budget book — Fleet purchase history · PDF page 129
No request drafted yet; review the question and scope first.
Sanitation depreciation source discrepancylow · What does the $3,874 FY2024 budget-book depreciation figure represent, and how does it relate to audited FY2024 depreciation of $165,968?
What the record establishes
The two published figures differ materially and may have different scope or basis. The audited series is used for comparable reporting; the budget-book figure has not been reconciled.
Records needed
- FY2024 Sanitation depreciation ledger detail
- Fixed-asset and accumulated-depreciation schedules supporting the audited amount
- Workpaper or account mapping supporting the budget-book amount
- Any existing reconciliation between the two presentations
Sources
- FY2024 audit — Sanitation expenses · PDF page 46
- FY2024 budget book — Sanitation detail · PDF page 113
No request drafted yet; review the question and scope first.
Printed detail-to-total differenceslow · Are the recorded differences of $1 to $4 between printed detail and printed totals rounding, presentation artifacts or source-entry differences?
What the record establishes
Fifteen small differences are preserved in the source-exceptions register. They do not affect document coverage and do not by themselves establish an error; all FY2018–FY2025 audits are present.
Records needed
- Existing budget-system report or worksheet used to generate the affected printed department and fund schedules
- Existing rounding or report-format specification for those schedules
- Corrected pages only if the city already issued them
Sources
- Example FY2025 source — City Hall $1 difference · PDF page 29
- Example FY2024 source — Fire Prevention $2 difference · PDF page 44
- Example FY2025 source — Parks Maintenance $4 difference · PDF page 57
No request drafted yet; review the question and scope first.
Paving — scope and spending reconciliationhigh · Please provide existing approved scope lists, executed contracts, change orders, pay estimates and invoice records connecting the June 20, 2023 paving schedule totaling $2,034,307.05 and the August 15, 2023 $57,000 Rosedale/Hornsby estimate to project or account codes and recorded expenditures. Please identify overlap with PIN 123661.00 or other STBG projects through existing records. Estimates and contract amounts are not assumed to be payments. Please also provide final quantities, pay applications and payment support for PIN 123661.00 at the $1,145,611.48 amended ceiling, and separately for PIN 132258.00 / RFB 25-10, whose final construction amount was estimated at approximately $1,785,000 in August 2026. Include the Dennis Street change order and approval/payment support for the separate Gresham Smith $20,000 amendment request.
What the record establishes
Additional source-linked approvals and estimates are now identified in the project timeline; executed agreements and transaction-level reconciliation remain outstanding.
Records needed
- Please provide existing approved scope lists, executed contracts, change orders, pay estimates and invoice records connecting the June 20, 2023 paving schedule totaling $2,034,307.05 and the August 15, 2023 $57,000 Rosedale/Hornsby estimate to project or account codes and recorded expenditures. Please identify overlap with PIN 123661.00 or other STBG projects through existing records. Estimates and contract amounts are not assumed to be payments.
- Please also provide final quantities, pay applications and payment support for PIN 123661.00 at the $1,145,611.48 amended ceiling, and separately for PIN 132258.00 / RFB 25-10, whose final construction amount was estimated at approximately $1,785,000 in August 2026. Include the Dennis Street change order and approval/payment support for the separate Gresham Smith $20,000 amendment request.
Sources
Animal shelter — kennel and construction closeouthigh · Please provide the executed Midmark kennel order or contract supporting the November 2023 $291,009.50 recommendation and approval, invoices, installation acceptance, and payment records. Please provide executed Wilson construction amendments, final pay application, retainage release and acceptance records; and the executed Humane Society contribution agreement and receipts corresponding to the draft $252,092 contribution. Include any approval of the proposed $900,000 shelter ARPA allocation and its project ledger.
What the record establishes
The kennel recommendation identifies Midmark at $291,009.50. A draft agreement proposes $252,092 from the Humane Society. Neither establishes payment.
Records needed
- Please provide the executed Midmark kennel order or contract supporting the November 2023 $291,009.50 recommendation and approval, invoices, installation acceptance, and payment records. Please provide executed Wilson construction amendments, final pay application, retainage release and acceptance records; and the executed Humane Society contribution agreement and receipts corresponding to the draft $252,092 contribution. Include any approval of the proposed $900,000 shelter ARPA allocation and its project ledger.
Sources
Fire Station #3 — property and construction recordshigh · Please provide the purchase agreement, closing statement and payment support for the Elizabeth Street property approved June 18, 2024 for Fire Station 3, together with executed design and construction contracts, amendments, pay applications and completion records currently held. Council approval alone is not assumed to establish closing or payment. For the June 16, 2026 KTM award of $5,985,590, please include the executed contract and notice to proceed. Include the separate Wold construction-administration notice to proceed, support for reported design spending, and invoices under the July 21 UES estimated $48,475 unit-rate approval.
What the record establishes
A subsequent staff report says 2.47 acres were purchased in June 2024; it does not provide the price or closing statement. Construction and testing approvals remain distinct from payments.
Records needed
- Please provide the purchase agreement, closing statement and payment support for the Elizabeth Street property approved June 18, 2024 for Fire Station 3, together with executed design and construction contracts, amendments, pay applications and completion records currently held. Council approval alone is not assumed to establish closing or payment.
- For the June 16, 2026 KTM award of $5,985,590, please include the executed contract and notice to proceed. Include the separate Wold construction-administration notice to proceed, support for reported design spending, and invoices under the July 21 UES estimated $48,475 unit-rate approval.