Lee County accepts clean 2024 audit; finance committee readies budget season
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Summary
The county accepted the 2024 financial audit with a clean opinion from Wipfli; staff reported internal transitions in financial-statement preparation and noted continuing budget pressures ahead of the next budget cycle.
County finance chair Jim Scheelein and county accounting staff reported to the board that external auditors Wipfli issued a clean opinion on Lee County's 2024 financial statements and that the county has made progress addressing prior recommendations.
Reid, a county accounting official who said he took over writing most of the financial statements this year, told the board: “We got a clean opinion from from Wipfli.” He said the county has moved some agency accounts into the accounting system and is negotiating follow-up work and pricing with the auditor for future years.
Finance committee chair Scheelein noted that certain revenue trends — including local-use and personal-property-replacement tax receipts — continue to be “not in our favor” and that the budget process will begin in the next month. He reminded board members that budget meetings are public and that department-level questions are welcome during the budget process.
Board members voted to accept the audit by voice vote; the chair recorded “Aye” and declared the motion carried. The meeting packet includes the full audit and schedules for fund-level balances, and staff said mass-transit district accounts included in prior combined statements are being closed out in the current audit period.
No additional budget appropriations were approved at the meeting; the board moved to the next steps in the fiscal calendar.