NATCHEZ &045; Their Tuesday night meeting brought aldermen good news that was 20 years in the making.

During that meeting, representatives of the Gillon & Co. accounting firm presented the board with results of the annual audit conducted in September.

The results? The first clean audit the city has had in 20 years, according to Gillon & Co.

The city’s previous audit directed the city to, among other things, keep better track of its fixed assets, place better internal controls on its disbursements, better record cash accounts and reconcile grant reports with the city’s general ledger.

Since then, the city has adopted controls to address all those findings, according to the most recent audit.

&uot;We have finally taken care of (findings) that have been a black mark on a lot of administrations for a lot of years,&uot; said Mayor F.L. &uot;Hank&uot; Smith.

&uot;It’s taken a lot of hard work&uot; by accountants, the City Clerk’s Office and others to get to that point, Smith said.

Gillon & Co.’s did find, in the latest audit, that administration costs paid for out of certain grants weren’t being documented in accordance with federal standards, a situation the city has stated it will correct.

In addition, the City Clerk’s Office was not making deposits daily and was not fully complying with the Mississippi Municipal Accounting and Auditing Guide in documenting fixed assets.

Both situations have since been corrected, according to the audit.

However, Smith noted that new accounting standards applied to such audits as of this year, &uot;so it’s difficult to compare it to previous years Š unless you’re an accountant.&uot;