Independent audit: Gilpin County receives unmodified (clean) opinion for 2024 financial statements and federal compliance

Gilpin County’s 2024 financial statements received an unmodified (clean) opinion from Hinkle & Company, the county’s external auditors, the firm told commissioners on Aug. 12. Jim Hinkle, lead auditor, outlined the firm’s work on internal controls, financial-statement testing and the single-audit requirements tied to federal funding exceeding $750,000 in expenditures.

Hinkle said auditors performed control testing across cash receipts, disbursements and payroll cycles and looked for segregation-of-duties issues and potential material weaknesses. The firm reported no significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in internal control and issued unmodified opinions on the financial statements and on federal program compliance testing for selected programs (including CARES/ARPA/COVID-recovery funds and a substance-abuse block-grant program sampled for the single audit).

Auditors also reported no disagreements with management, no reportable findings on compliance testing for the sampled federal programs and no audit adjustments. Hinkle praised county staff for transparency and responsiveness during the audit and said the audit report was filed with the state by the July 31 deadline. The county’s audit also was submitted to the Government Finance Officers Association for their review.

Commissioners thanked finance staff for their work and noted the audit findings support prior public statements about the county’s fiscal position, including reserves, capital spending and public-safety priorities.