Kent Willis, partner at Patillo Brown & Hill LLP, told the Grey Canyon Commissioners Court on July 29, 2025, that the firm had issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the county's FY 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR).
Willis said the general fund reported about $64.6 million in revenue and roughly $50 million in expenditures for the year, with a $14 million transfer to the capital improvement fund leaving an ending fund balance of about $65.1 million, which he described as roughly 15.6 months of reserves.
The auditor also reported results of the single audit required for significant federal and state grant funding. Willis said auditors identified one finding related to the rural law enforcement grant (commonly called the SB22 program), a total of $722,431 for county law enforcement programs. The finding stemmed from the year‑end report submitted to the Texas Comptroller that mistakenly showed amounts budgeted rather than amounts actually spent. Willis said county staff corrected the reporting error, had already resubmitted corrected reports and were coordinating with the comptroller's office while the state completed its review.
Willis emphasized that the finding did not reflect improper use of grant funds: "The finding was not that you spent the money on the wrong stuff," he said. "You spent it on the correct things. The error was at the end of the year, when the reporting was made to the comptroller." He added that other counties experienced similar reporting difficulties because the program and rules were new and complex.
Commissioners voted to accept the presentation of the audit. The court approved the auditor's presentation by motion from Commissioner McKinney, seconded by Commissioner Wingo.
Willis recommended additional training and implementation of procedures in the auditor's office to avoid recurrence. He also invited county staff to contact the audit firm with questions during the coming year.
The court's acceptance of the ACFR followed Willis's description of standard audit procedures: testing general ledgers and trial balances, examining contracts and invoices, and interviewing staff. Willis commended county staff for cooperating with auditors through the county's ERP transition.
No further formal actions were described on the single‑audit finding beyond correction and coordination with the comptroller's office.