City in good financial standing based on audit results

By ROB LARSON
Daily Press Staff Writer
Concluding the 2010-11 audit for Artesia recently, Jeffery McWhorter of Roswell’s Accounting and Consulting Group, LLP addressed the Artesia City Council during Tuesday night’s meeting, briefly discussing the good financial standing of the city.
“The City of Artesia is on a pretty good financial basis,” McWorter told the council. “We believe the city has taken appropriate steps to correct its deficiencies.” … For the rest of the story, subscribe in print and on the web.
According to McWhorter, the city has an 8-to-1 ratio in terms of assets to liabilities. In other words, for all the bills and debts the city owes, it has eight times that amount in assets, such as buildings, hard currency, etc.
That means, according to Assistant Clerk Lisa Johnston, that the city is “very fiscally sound.” For instance, all municipalities in New Mexico are required to have, readily available, a minimum of three months of funds needed to operate the city or town. And whereas many cities and towns around the state struggle to have three months of funds available, Artesia fortunately has roughly a year’s worth of funds on hand.