Page County receives unmodified FY2024 audit; general fund posts deficit linked to capital transfers

James Kelly, a partner at Ramos, Farmer & Cox, told the Page County Board of Supervisors that the firm issued an unmodified opinion on the county's FY2024 financial statements, the highest level of assurance an auditor can give. The audit found $26,000,000 in cash and cash equivalents and an ending governmental fund balance of about $25,000,000, of which about $20,000,000 was unassigned.

Kelly said the general fund showed a $2,600,000 deficit for FY2024, primarily driven by transfers to the capital projects fund, including the county's broadband initiative. Across governmental funds, expenditures exceeded revenues by about $5,300,000. He noted total reported liabilities at June 30, 2024, of nearly $68,000,000; that figure includes accounting liabilities such as landfill closure/post-closure costs, pension and OPEB obligations and compensated absences, and the auditors estimate roughly $50,000,000 of that amount represents what the county commonly recognizes as debt.

On collections, Kelly reported the county collected about 94% of its current-year real estate levy in FY2024, down from earlier years (the percentage was higher in prior periods and dipped during the pandemic). He said collections typically continue into subsequent years and that the multi-year collection rate trends should be reviewed if the board wants more detail.

Kelly said the county earned the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for several years, and that auditors found no internal control findings or federal compliance issues in their OMB Uniform Guidance testing. Programs examined under uniform guidance included Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act passthroughs, special education clusters and education stabilization funds; auditors reported no findings in those tests.

Board members asked follow-up questions about tax-collection trends and the timeframe for collecting delinquent taxes. Kelly recommended the board read the Management's Discussion and Analysis in the audit report for narrative context and noted staff had posted adjusting entries that the auditors proposed and that a governance letter showed no disagreements with management.

The audit presentation concluded with an invitation for questions; none of the auditor's findings required corrective action letters or formal compliance exceptions.