Whitfield County Receives Unmodified Audit Opinion; Commissioners accept 2024 financial report

Whitfield County commissioners accepted the countyaudit for the year ending Dec. 31, 2024, after Rushton auditors presented an unmodified opinion and highlights of the financial statements. The audit presentation, delivered by Samuel Latimer of Rushton, summarized county revenue and expenditure trends, federal grant compliance and upcoming Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) changes. Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the audit as presented. Latimer told the Board that the firm issued an unmodified opinion and that the finance teamprovided requested information in a timely fashion. He described the statement of net position, explained how restricted funds such as SPLOST are shown, and reviewed government-wide and fund-level results. He also reported results of a single-audit review of federal expenditures under the uniform guidance and said no compliance issues were found. County staff earlier reported year-to-date fiscal figures through June: about $7.6 million in sales tax, $2.9 million in vehicle tax and $21.8 million in general revenues; total expenditures paid through June were reported near $32.1 million. The county reported a year-to-date surplus of approximately $729,000 as of June 30, 2025, while noting health-insurance liabilities for the self-insured plan remain to be trued up. Latimer pointed to specific accounting changes already implemented (GASB 101 adjustments for compensated absences and similar items) and warned of further GASB reporting changes slated for 2025and 2026 that will affect presentation and managementdiscussion-and-analysis. Chairman Jensen moved to accept the audit. Commissioner Jones seconded; the motion passed on a 4-0 vote.