Douglas County Commissioners approved the fiscal year 2024 financial statements and audit report at their Oct. 8 business meeting after auditors presented their findings and answered commissioners' questions.

Auditor Tara Laughlin told the commission the report contains “two opinions — one’s labeled adverse and one’s labeled unmodified,” explaining that the adverse opinion reflects the county’s election to present regulatory‑basis rather than GAAP financial statements, which Kansas statute permits when elected annually. Laughlin said the audit produced an unmodified (clean) opinion on the regulatory basis statements and noted three audit adjustments this year: an estimate for incurred but not reported health‑insurance claims, an accounts payable that should have been recorded at year‑end, and a prior‑year adjustment needed to correct beginning balances.

The audit presentation said the accounts‑payable adjustment reduced the county’s reported year‑end cash/fund balance — a reduction commissioners discussed as being about $2 million. Laughlin described the adjustments as standard audit items and said there were no disagreements with management and no uncorrected misstatements. She also said a payroll compensating control that had previously lapsed was reimplemented and tested as complete.

Public commenter Brent Bovee raised a separate concern about how the county presents budget schedules and delinquent‑tax amounts, saying the presentation change had not been explained previously and that the county’s schedules might double‑count delinquent tax when compared to budget hearing documents. County staff said they reviewed the schedule presentation with the audit team and elected to return to the prior presentation for consistency.

Commissioner Reed moved to approve the financial statement and conclusion of the fiscal year 2024 audit; Commissioner Kelly seconded. The board approved the motion, 4‑0, with Commissioner Dorsey absent.

The auditors flagged routine items for continued management attention — electronic wire‑transfer controls, cybersecurity, and segregation of duties areas — and said they will revisit the payroll controls in next year’s audit. The county indicated staff would continue to work with the auditors on presentation choices to ensure clarity for users of the financial statements.