The Effingham County Tax and Finance Committee accepted an external audit for the fiscal year ended Nov. 30, 2024, and authorized staff to issue a request for proposals for auditing services next year.

The audit presentation said the auditors issued an unmodified opinion on the county's financial statements and on the single audit required for federal expenditures over $750,000. The presenter noted an "emphasis of matter" because the county reports on a cash basis rather than using generally accepted accounting principles.

Committee members said they were satisfied with the audit results and moved to accept the audit findings and forward the report to the full county board for approval. The committee also voted to release a request for proposals for audit services because the current contract is ending.

Auditors described one recurring finding: the county does not prepare its own financial statements for audit; instead, auditors prepare the statements from county-provided records. The auditors said that under professional standards management retains responsibility for reviewing and accepting the financial statements and related notes. The audit team also reported no findings in the single-audit testing of federal awards and identified management-letter items including misclassified capital outlay expenditures and interfund activity that did not net to zero.

Committee discussion touched on staffing options to address the recurring finding. One member asked whether hiring an in-house employee with the capability to prepare financial statements would resolve the internal-control comment and whether such a hire would be cost-effective. The auditor said that the county could employ someone with the qualifications to prepare statements but that whether it would save money depends on local circumstances and costs.

After the presentation, the committee approved a motion to accept the audit findings and forward the report to the full board. Later in the meeting the committee voted to issue an RFP for audit services and to forward that request to the full board.

The committee asked county staff to include the application materials from the current engagement when preparing the RFP and noted the county's ordinance preference to accept the low bid unless a clear reason exists to choose otherwise.

No additional formal actions (such as hiring decisions or changes to accounting policy) were taken during the meeting; the decisions were to forward the audit and to seek proposals for the next contract.