Pickens County audit returns clean opinion; three internal-control findings noted

Independent auditor Sam Glatterman reported to the Pickens County Board of Commissioners that the county’s financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2024, received an unmodified opinion and that the auditor found no reportable issues in the single-audit of federal funds.

Glatterman told commissioners that the county’s government-wide net position rose compared with 2023, driven largely by about $6.4 million in capital investments. He said funds invested in capital assets increased from about $51.7 million to about $57.0 million and that the county’s general fund revenues rose roughly 8 percent year over year, driven primarily by property-tax increases and higher sales tax receipts.

The auditor said the finance office earned the Government Finance Officers Association’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting and that depreciation and noncash items affect comparability with cash-flow results, noting the airport fund’s operating revenue increased and that depreciation brought it close to breakeven on the full-accrual statement.

Glatterman reported three audit findings in the management letter and said that is an improvement from 14 findings when his firm began auditing the county in 2021. He described implementation of two new Governmental Accounting Standards Board pronouncements—GASB 100 and GASB 101—affecting error corrections, compensated-absence reporting and related salary-based costs, which increased the county’s accrued compensated-absence liability by about $394,000.

He told the board that no difficulties were encountered during the audit, that management signed a representation letter, and that the auditor will highlight additional GASB reporting changes (notably GASB 103) when they affect 2026 reporting.

The presentation closed with commissioners thanking Glatterman and noting the finance office’s work on the audit and awards.