Tangipahoa Parish audit receives unmodified opinion; auditors report no findings

Auditors from Erickson Crenshaw told the Tangipahoa Parish Finance and Audit Committee on Jan. 7 that they issued an unmodified opinion on the parish’s financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2024, and found no reportable deficiencies or instances of noncompliance.

Jim Tonglen, a partner with Erickson Crenshaw, introduced the audit team and turned the presentation over to Mike Caparata, the firm’s senior manager, who summarized the findings. “We issued an unmodified opinion on those financial statements dated 12/09/2024,” Caparata said, noting that in lay terms that is “a clean opinion, that's the highest form of opinion we can issue.”

Caparata told the committee total revenues for the year were about $326 million, up from roughly $307 million the prior year, and that federal grants accounted for the largest component of that change—about $17 million higher year to year. Total expenses for the year were approximately $312 million. Fund balance at June 30, 2024, was reported at about $154.5 million; Caparata said roughly 81% of that balance is restricted, leaving about 11% unassigned or unrestricted.

As part of the report, the auditors said they performed the statewide agreed‑upon procedures required by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor and the procedures required by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Uniform Guidance for federal awards. Caparata told the committee that those tests “did not identify any deficiencies in internal controls or any noncompliance that's required to be reported under government auditing standards,” and that they found no instances of noncompliance for major federal programs.

The auditors also reported there were no illegal acts discovered, no uncorrected misstatements, no disagreements with management, and no management consultations with other accountants. Committee members and staff thanked the audit team and accounting staff for the timely completion of the report; McNeely specifically congratulated Miss Anderson as the point person for the audit work and noted the system’s prior GFOA award for its report.

The audit presentation concluded with the auditors offering to answer questions; committee members had no further substantive queries. The committee took no formal action as part of the presentation.