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Baker County commissioners warn of state action after repeated late audits
Summary
Commissioners criticized repeated audit delays and said the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee (JLAC) was preparing sanctions. County staff and outside consultants are working with auditors; commissioners demanded weekly status updates to JLAC and the board.
Baker County commissioners spent an extended portion of their March 4 meeting pressing county staff about a string of late financial audits and warnings from the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee (JLAC).
Commissioner Bennett opened the exchange, saying the county lost $66,000 in unrecoverable revenue after an audit was not filed on time and that the board had not been informed. “Your staff did not inform you, and you are not aware that the county lost $66,000 because of the lack of performance by your office,” Bennett said.
The county manager, identified in the meeting as Sarah, and other staff described steps already under way: the county has contracted outside CPAs and consultants to help assemble supporting documentation and to assist auditors; some audit sections (bank reconciliations) have already been processed; and auditors reported they had begun work on the sheriff’s office portion. James Moore and a person identified as Ben were named as working with auditors. Chairman Croft said he had shared information with the board as he received it and pledged to continue doing so.
Why it matters: JLAC notified county leaders that it was considering sanctions after repeated missed deadlines. Commissioners said sanctions could stop state grant funding coming to local projects and bills, and that the county must demonstrate progress to avoid further penalties.
Discussion and next steps: Commissioners demanded a written schedule of outstanding audit items and weekly status updates. Chairman Croft and Commissioner Mobley said they would appear before JLAC and requested that county staff and the county clerk send weekly progress letters to JLAC and circulate the same updates to the commission. County staff said they had engaged a consultant to assemble records for the auditors and that a CPA had been added to the team.
Commissioner Bennett and others raised cybersecurity concerns about giving outside contractors remote access to county systems; Bennett said any such access should be time-limited and that the county should not accept “24/7” remote access without proper safeguards. Staff said they had worked with auditors and contractors to balance access needs and security.
The board did not take a formal vote on policy changes at the March 4 meeting, but commissioners directed staff to provide: a written project schedule identifying outstanding audit documents, weekly emailed status reports to JLAC (copied to the commission), and a plan for hiring or contracting additional finance support as needed.
The county’s next deadline from JLAC is the end of March; Commissioner Mobley and Chairman Croft said they would attend the JLAC meeting to report on progress.
