Royston’s FY25 audit timeline shifted as city awaited final financial report

Royston administrators told the City Council on Oct. 14, 2025, that Rushton LLC had been on site during the week of Sept. 2 to complete fieldwork for the city’s FY25 financial audit and that the final report and annual financial statements would be released at the October council meeting. The council minutes record that projection, but do not show that the documents were actually presented or released.

The eventual audit report and accompanying financial statements are the public record through which residents and council members can examine Royston’s FY25 financial reporting. Until those documents are formally available, the public cannot assess what the audit concluded, whether it identified findings or recommendations, or whether city leaders were asked to respond.

The city’s reported timetable changed over the fall. At the Sept. 9 council meeting, administrators said Rushton LLC had completed FY25 audit fieldwork on Aug. 20 and 21 and expected a final report by the November council meeting. Five weeks later, administrators reported auditors had been on site during the week of Sept. 2 to complete fieldwork and moved the projected release forward to the October meeting. The minutes do not explain the differing descriptions of fieldwork or the revised timing.

City administrators presented the updates to council, while Rushton LLC was identified as the firm conducting the FY25 audit work. Council members and residents have an interest in the report because it is expected to provide the formal review of the city’s financial records, but the cited meeting records do not preserve debate over the audit, positions taken by individual officials, or any response from the auditing firm.

What is established is limited: administrators reported audit fieldwork and gave projected release dates. A final FY25 audit report, annual financial statements, audit findings and a council vote or other action on those materials are not documented in the cited minutes. It therefore remains unknown whether an October or November release occurred on schedule and what, if anything, the audit found.

The next public milestone is a council record showing the final FY25 audit report and annual financial statements were presented or released. That record would clarify which timetable held, disclose the audit’s conclusions and show whether the council considered or acted on any findings; none of those questions is resolved by the September and October updates.