KANE COUNTY, Ill. — Kane County’s finance director told the County Board on Aug. 6 that external auditors issued an unmodified, or clean, opinion on the county’s 2024 financial statements, but the county is managing several notable budget pressures.

The county’s finance director, Kathleen, said, “The county received an unmodified opinion, which is, essentially a clean opinion. No findings.” That, she said, and other recent audits, will be posted online and discussed with the board.

But Kathleen told board members that two expense items were significantly over budget. The sheriff’s commodity line for detainee food was budgeted at $1,097,000 and was running about $1,600,000 year to date — roughly $509,000 over budget. The director traced that overage to multiple kinds of charges inside the food line: about $533,000 paid to a food service provider, roughly $750,000 payable to neighboring counties for housing detainees, and several hundred thousand for security equipment that had been charged to that account.

She also said the sheriff purchased vehicles out of the general fund and that accounting staff will reclassify those purchases to the sheriff vehicle fund (referred to in discussion as fund 128) so the capital expense is paid from the appropriate fund. “For the vehicles, yes. There was no budget. Typically, we don't purchase capital out of the general fund, so that will be corrected,” Kathleen said.

Board members pressed staff about whether the detainee housing and security equipment belong in a food account; Kathleen and sheriff staff indicated some of those costs have been historically coded to a contractual services or commodities account and that staff will look for more appropriate line items going forward.

The county heard that audits of federal funds and transition audits for several departments are in progress; the county’s audit firm will present to the board in September. Kathleen said the county’s fiscal scorecard had improved after a $600,000 uptick in a previously low grant revenue line.

The county clerk will post the 11/30/2024 audited financial statements to the county website after final formatting, Kathleen said. Board members asked staff to follow up in committees about reclassifications and whether budget adjustments are needed to reflect the actual mix of expenses.

Ending: The county will present the audit firm’s communication to the full board in September; the finance office will track the reclassification of vehicle purchases and follow up with the sheriff’s office on detainee-related charges and potential budget amendments.