In 2018, Mayor Levar M. Stoney boasted that his new administration had accomplished a feat that his predecessor could not — complete the city’s audited comprehensive annual financial report, or CAFR, on time.

Fast forward three years, and the Stoney administration is no longer boasting about that financial achievement because the CAFR for the 2020-21 fiscal year that ended June 30 has not been completed.

Lincoln Saunders, the city’s chief administrative officer, and Finance Director Sheila White are keeping mum over the failure to meet the city’s Oct. 31 deadline for issuing the completed financial statement and to report audited revenue and spending data to the state auditor.

The last word on the CAFR came from Jim Nolan, the mayor’s press secretary, who in response to a Free Press query, stated, “Our focus is on meeting our current fiscal year reporting requirements and wrapping up the audit in a timely matter. We anticipate we will meet the filing deadline as articulated in the Virginia Code.”

State law requires the city to submit detailed financial information to the state auditor by Dec. 15 and to present a finished CAFR to the council by Dec. 31.

Since mid-October, the only response to queries about the CAFR’s status has been an announcement of the city hiring a new chief financial officer, Sabrina Joy-Hogg.

Ms. Joy-Hogg, 53, previously served as the chief deputy city manager for Norfolk.

The administration had reported to the council Sept. 15 on prospects for a surplus of $22.3 million, including $9.4 million from the 2020-21 fiscal year. The Free Press reported on the potential surplus in the Oct. 14-16 edition and that Ms. White had indicated that development of the CAFR was on track.

Insiders in the Finance Department told the Free Press they laughed when they saw it as the city’s CAFR software had not been opened until that week. Adding to the troubles, a key member of the Finance Department’s staff, controller Gulshan Allen, left City Hall just as work on the CAFR started.

That was a major loss as the controller oversees critical functions, ranging from payroll payments to accounts payable and ledger reconciliation and is the staff member designated to work with the outside auditor to complete the CAFR.

While members of City Council, including 9th District Councilman Michael J. Jones, who chairs the Finance and Economic Development Committee, have not commented publicly or expressed concern about the CAFR’s delay, there has been some private grumbling.

“Our Finance Office is in a mess,” one member acknowledged to the Free Press on condition of anonymity.

The administration is hoping that Ms. Joy-Hogg’s arrival will make a difference. Her job officially is listed as deputy chief administrative officer for finance and administration. She fills a post that was held by retired CAO Lenora Reid.

According to the administration, Ms. Joy-Hogg’s starting pay is $225,000 a year, a salary that will be one of the highest in city government and tops the pay of Mr. Saunders, who was earning $198,000 annually when City Council confirmed him as CAO and has since received a raise to $204,435.

In her new role, Ms. Joy-Hogg will oversee the departments of Finance, Budget and Strategic Planning, Human Resources, Procurement and Information Technology.

She said she would bring her experience in international, state and local governments to her new post. Her career includes a stint as deputy city manager of Charlotte, N.C., and as a technical advisor to Uganda’s Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development through a U.S. Treasury program.

Ms. Joy-Hogg also has been a policy and planning specialist for the Virginia Department of Planning and Budget.

She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stony Brook University in New York.