Auditors issue unmodified opinion on Jefferson County 2024 financials; single-audit finds no material weaknesses

Jefferson County's external auditors presented the county's 2024 audit to the Board of County Commissioners, reporting an unmodified opinion and no material weaknesses or material noncompliance in the federal single audit.

"We did issue an unmodified opinion," auditor Fritz Helmer said, adding, "It's the best opinion you can receive." Lisa Horn, the partner who led the compliance (single-audit) work, told commissioners: "There was no material weaknesses or material noncompliance related to your single audit." The presentation said the audit work ran roughly eight months, beginning in December and concluding in the summer of 2025.

The audit covered both governmental activities and business-type activities. Auditors reported a modest increase in total governmental assets from 2023 to 2024 largely driven by capital projects and subscription assets; business-type increases were concentrated at the county airport, which "had a pretty good year," auditors said, boosting unrestricted net position.

A major balance-sheet note highlighted a large restricted fund balance: roughly 70% of the county's governmental fund balance is restricted to purposes such as debt service, specific grants and revenue retained under the voter-approved ballot measure (referred to in the presentation as Issue 1A). Auditors said the property-tax retention authorized by that voter measure caused revenue recognition and a corresponding restricted net position in 2024.

Auditors described several adjustments that management chose not to record because they judged the amounts immaterial to the overall financial statements. Those uncorrected items included: - A pension-related calculation under GASB reporting for a single employee participating in PERA with an estimated liability of about $600,000 (noted as immaterial and therefore not recorded). - An adjustment related to CFMS reporting (a contra revenue/expense correction) of about $290,000 that management planned to correct in fiscal 2025. - A prior-year subscription-liability recognition related to GASB 96 that increased assets and subscription liabilities by roughly $10,000,000 with a net differential considered not material; auditors reported the correction was recorded in 2024 and disclosed as a prior-year adjustment.

On internal-control findings, auditors said one long‑standing item'an IT segregation-of-duties concern in the county's property-tax system (Momentum)'was reduced in severity from a material weakness in prior years to a deficiency for 2024. Helmer said management removed unnecessary "superuser" access for several users and instituted a review; auditors noted the control-change review was performed but that the approval and documentation of the review were not fully documented and recommended an annual, documented approval going forward.

In the single-audit portion, Horn said the county reported roughly $146 million in federal expenditures in 2024 (noted as among the highest years on record) and that auditors identified eight major federal programs to test. She said the county had material weaknesses or material noncompliance annually from 2017 through 2022 but had none in 2023 and 2024.

The single-audit produced one significant deficiency in administrative controls for the county-administered foster care program. Auditors found two instances (of 40 files tested) in which a required signed agreement supporting maintenance payments following a child's ninth birthday was missing; auditors said payments themselves were correct. The county submitted a corrective-action plan and implemented additional safeguards, including a manual tracking process to flag birthdays pending a state-system correction. Horn said the corrective action was implemented as of July 1, 2025, and auditors plan follow-up testing in the next audit cycle.

Auditors closed by thanking county finance and departmental staff for responding to audit findings and implementing corrective measures. Jefferson County CFO Dan Conley and commissioners asked clarifying questions during the presentation; auditors said they would continue annual monitoring of the reduced‑severity IT control and review remaining corrective actions in future audits.

The county accepted the presentation and auditors left the meeting with no formal county vote recorded on the audit opinion during this session.