So much for a projected $9.4 million surplus in the city treasury.

That has vanished, according to the city’s new Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, or ACFR, for the 2020-21 fiscal year that ended June 30.

The report, completed and released Dec. 13, confirmed a Free Press news report that the city’s outside auditor, Clifton Larson-Allen LLP, had discovered a $12 million mistake that inflated the amount of money the city had left over.

The auditor’s requirement of a correction of the mistake undermined the projection of a surplus that was submitted to City Council on Sept. 15 by Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration.

The completed ACFR also shows about $1 million in adjustments to other projections the administration had made, further reducing the amount in savings.

For example, the Stoney administration projected that revenue to build new schools, which is generated from a dedicated 1.5 percent city tax on restaurant meals, totaled $16.99 million. The ACFR boosted that amount by $500,000 to $17.5 million.

The bottom line: Instead of finishing the fiscal year with a robust $137.5 million in its “rainy day” fund as the administration projected three months ago, the ACFR puts the total at $124.3 million, a reduction of $13.1 million.

According to the ACFR, the “rainy day” fund includes $100.5 million in the virtually untouchable unassigned fund balance and $23.8 million in a separate revenue stabilization fund.

The council is to receive the auditor’s presentation on the ACFR in January.

Getting the annual report finished by the state’s deadline required the administration to bring in consultants. The administration previously told the Free Press that no consultants were being used.

Jim Nolan, Mayor Stoney’s press secretary, confirmed that three individuals, who were supplied by two companies, Robert Half and Protiviti, were paid a collective $310 per hour to fill gaps in the city Finance Department staff to enable the ACFR to be completed by the state’s mid-December deadline. The total spent on those temporary workers has topped $10,000, according to information provided to the Free Press.

Mr. Nolan stated that the individuals “were hired as temporary employees to assume the open positions in a severely depleted staff to assist in the normal general accounting operations, which included things like the audit. Finance had a 40 percent vacancy rate at the time.” He stated the reduced number of employees means the Finance Department has $1 million in savings in the line item for personnel pay and benefits.

The Stoney administration, for the first time, also awarded bonuses equal to 5 percent of salary to 10 city employees and a $1,000 bonus to another employee following completion and release of the ACFR, Mr. Nolan also confirmed.

Among those receiving 5 percent bonuses were two senior finance officials, Sheila D. White, the city’s director of finance, and James P. Duval, the investment and debt portfolio manager, according to a city document.

In past years, the Free Press was told, Finance Departments employees put in hundreds of extra hours, including on weekends, to complete the ACFR and did not receive extra compensation.

Mr. Nolan defended the bonuses as recognizing employees for the 3,000 additional hours required to get the job done and handle the reconciliation issue. As most of the city employees involved are salaried and do not qualify for overtime, it also was the right thing to do.

“Together, these temps and existing personnel were what was required to get the job done,” he continued, “and they got it done.”