Leslie Edwards, Northampton County finance director, presented the countys August 2025 monthly financial report, telling commissioners that operating cash on hand was $4,500,000 and the investment balance was $27,500,000, for a total cash balance reported as roughly $32,000,000.

Edwards said August revenues were at 5.6% of budgeted numbers, equating to $80,241, and that overall expenses for August were 13.7%, under the expected 16.6% pace. She flagged timing differences (revenues received after month end) and one-time contributions as drivers of variance in department percentages and explained an enterprise-fund billing issue affecting the Garysburg Water and Sewer District.

Resident and frequent commenter Alan Tashima praised Edwardss report format but accused the county of hiding funds and of failing to tell taxpayers “the truth.” Tashima cited figures he said were in the report: roughly $24,000,000 in property taxes, $13,000,000 in other taxes and fees for a total revenue figure he put at $37,800,000, and an operating cash plus investment figure he described as $32,100,000. He asked which CPA firm prepared the report; Edwards replied that she prepared it herself and that she used a report format she said she had also used in other counties.

Tashima also highlighted outstanding long-term debt figures presented in the report and said some loans would not be paid off until 2040. He told the board the county planned to add another $6,900,000 in borrowing to cover a Phase 6 water-project shortfall, a figure that aligns with the separate grant-ordinance amendment considered later in the meeting.

Commissioners pressed Edwards on timing and verification details; Edwards said some revenues are not posted until mid-month, which explains the lag in reporting. The meeting record does not include an external audit firms confirmation of the report at the time of presentation.

Edwards and Tashima offered different rounded sums for the countys total cash- and investment-balance figure (Edwards: $32,000,000; Tashima: $32,100,000). The finance director said Exhibit 7 shows the countys operating cash and investment balances; Tashima said the disclosure still amounted to a previously undisclosed pool of funds that taxpayers should know about.

No formal vote was taken on the financial report itself; the board accepted the monthly report as presented and moved on to later agenda items.