The State Auditor's Office met with commissioners and county staff for an audit entrance conference covering the 2024 financial statement audit and federal grant compliance testing.
Steven Gadd, lead auditor, said the auditors will issue an opinion on the county's 2024 financial statements and will conduct federal grant compliance testing sufficient to cover 40% of the county's federal expenditures. To meet that threshold, auditors selected large programs including the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF/ARPA) and a large school-related federal program that requires triennial coverage.
Why it matters: the financial and single-audit work reviews how the county reported revenues, spent federal grant dollars and complied with grant terms; findings can become public and may trigger follow-up, corrective actions or heightened oversight.
Gadd summarized the levels of audit reporting that may result: findings (included in the audit report with a county response), management letters (formal letters not included in the audit report) and exit items (less severe issues communicated to management). He said auditors aim to complete the current engagement quickly and expected to finish the financial and federal program work soon, with an accountability audit to follow later in the audit cycle.
Audit staff asked county finance and other departments for documentation and said they will use secure file transfer for confidential materials. County staff confirmed weekly status calls and earlier corrective work on ARPA reporting that addressed prior portal-reporting differences, noting earlier issues were tied to guidance and portal timing.
What’s next: auditors will continue document requests and testing; staff will provide records and the auditors will issue draft reports through the normal review process. The board asked to be kept apprised of any items that require immediate attention.