Arizona Auditor General gives Maricopa County a clean opinion on FY2024 financial statements

The Arizona Auditor General presented the Maricopa County fiscal year 2024 audit to the Board of Supervisors on June 9, 2025, and reported an unmodified—or "clean"—opinion on the county's financial statements.

The Auditor General's presentation matters because a clean opinion indicates the financial statements are reliable for policy and budgeting decisions, but the report also included four internal-control findings and one federal compliance finding that the county must address, the auditors said.

Melanie Chesney, deputy auditor general, told the board the office conducted the audits in accordance with U.S. generally accepted auditing standards, Government Auditing Standards and the Uniform Guidance. TJ Wilhelm, deputy manager assigned to the county audits, said the county received the unmodified opinion and that auditors also prepare a two-page highlights summary to make the reports easier to read for officials and the public.

Wilhelm presented five-year trends showing the county's main revenue sources—shared state sales taxes, county property taxes, federal and state grants and county sales taxes—and said sales-tax related revenues increased in the most recent year by $47.8 million. He said public-safety expenses rose by $52.2 million from the prior year, driven largely by jail operations, sheriff's office services and flood control district operations. Wilhelm also noted the county's net position has increased every fiscal year since 2020.

The auditors reported that not all of the county's net position was spendable: $5,100,000,000 of the balance was restricted or nonspendable at the end of FY2024, leaving an unrestricted balance of $520,800,000. The auditors highlighted that over 52% of federal expenditures in FY2024 were from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, much of it COVID‑related recovery funding that is time-limited.

Michelle Walters, audit manager, said the report includes findings and recommendations and that the county has corrected or partially corrected several prior-year findings; four prior-year findings were reported as fully corrected. Walters and other auditors emphasized that management is responsible for preparing financial statements, maintaining internal controls and following up on audit recommendations.

The public portion of the informal meeting concluded after the presentation.