Local accountant Ken Odom was full of praise for the City of Andalusia when he delivered the city’s audit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2013 Tuesday night.

Odom, whose firm Rabren, Odom, Pierce and Hayes, P.C., completed the audit, said the City of Andalusia paid off about $2 million in long-term debt in the last fiscal year, and increased its operating expenses only 1.3 percent over the previous fiscal year.

The city had a cash balance of almost $6 million at year’s end, he said.

Sales and use tax collections increased 19.5 percent during the fiscal year, Odom said.

“You may not remember, but when I came and spoke to you last year, you had just had a controversial meeting when you adjusted the sales tax rate,” Odom said. “I commended you for doing that at that time. Based on what I’ve seen, if we took out the increase, sales taxes would basically be flat over the previous year, meaning we haven’t lost sales.”

“The city continues to be fiscally sound,” Odom said.