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Columbia County accepts clean 2024 financial audit; auditors flag internal-control findings
Summary
Auditors reported an unmodified (clean) opinion on Columbia County's fiscal 2023–24 financial statements but identified six audit findings including a material weakness tied to grant accounting; the board voted to accept the audit and asked staff to improve inter-agency documentation.
Columbia County commissioners voted to accept the county’s fiscal-year 2024 financial audit and heard a presentation from Powell & Jones CPA, the county’s external auditors, who issued an unmodified — or “clean” — opinion on the county’s financial statements for the year ended Sept. 30, 2024.
Caleb Perla, a partner at Powell & Jones, told commissioners the audit found the county’s total governmental funds assets of approximately $106 million, liabilities of $26 million and total fund balance of about $80 million; the county’s unassigned general‑fund balance was roughly $30 million, equivalent to about 3.4 months of expenditures, above Government Finance Officers Association recommendations.
However, auditors identified six findings in the schedule of findings — one material weakness and five significant deficiencies. The material weakness related to internal controls over grant activity: auditors found substantial unbilled grant revenues and unrecorded receivables that required additional billing and recommended additional staffing and procedures. Other findings addressed untimely deposits and reconciliations in the building and zoning department and repeated issues in the supervisor of elections office.
The board accepted the audit after discussion about delayed documentation and a plan to improve interoffice cooperation, including adding county finance staff to audit-request tracking lists and scheduling a post-audit meeting with the supervisor of elections. Commissioner comments asked for clearer deadlines and for the clerk’s office and constitutional officers to improve timeliness of records shared with auditors.
Action: The board voted to accept the 2024 annual financial report and audit (motion passed: unanimous aye). The auditor’s management letter and schedule of findings will be used to guide corrective steps by county finance and affected departments.
