Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Audit topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lamoille County Planning Commission audit returns clean opinion, auditor says
Summary
External auditor Rick Bergen told the Lamoille County Planning Commission the commission received an unqualified audit opinion and the audit found no material weaknesses; the report highlights a nearly break-even year and identifies minor management recommendations.
Rick Bergen, an auditor with Sullivan Powers, reported Thursday that the Lamoille County Planning Commission received an unqualified audit opinion for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024.
The opinion is the clearest signal an auditor can give about financial statements. Bergen told the commission the audit allowed the office to file required reports with both federal and state agencies and that “everything went off without a hitch.”
Bergen said the audit report runs 41 pages and highlighted the management’s discussion and analysis section as a concise summary of the year. He described the commission’s statement of net position and changes in net position, and noted the commission’s net change in position was a loss of about $10,000 for the year — “pretty close to a break‑even year,” he said. The report showed about $226,104 in unrestricted net position at June 30, 2024, after pension adjustments.
The auditor said no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal control were identified and that proposed journal entries were posted by management. Bergen also noted two routine management recommendations: documenting the commission’s internal control system in writing and ensuring net pension liabilities are correctly recorded ahead of each audit.
Commission members had no questions after the presentation and accepted the report. The commission did not take formal action on the audit beyond receiving the presentation.
The audit included a single-audit component, which Bergen said made the process more complex this year; he also thanked commission finance staff for their cooperation during the work.
Commission staff and the auditor encouraged members to read the management discussion and analysis pages of the report for a user-friendly summary and to consult the notes to the financial statements for details on items such as cash collateralization, lease terms and fund balance composition.
Clarifying details from the presentation included the $226,104 unrestricted net position figure, a net change in position of approximately negative $10,000 for the year, and the auditor’s recommendation to document internal controls and to book net pension liabilities before each audit cycle. Questions on numbers were deferred to the detailed report and the commission’s finance staff.
