County finance and administration items moved forward after brief presentations by staff: the board authorized submission of a state reimbursement request tied to the Washington Elementary School construction project, approved prepayment of the county’s mortgage on the 117 West Third Street (Francisco) building and accepted a corrective response to a recent financial audit finding.

Finance staff said they were ready to submit the first reimbursement packet to the state for $1,868,819.14 in eligible vendor invoices related to the Washington Elementary School project. Staff presented the grant reimbursement worksheet showing the state grant portion and the local match; the county share for the requisition was stated as $359,373.92 with the state grant portion covering the remainder (the presentation included a detailed vendor invoice spreadsheet for design, surveying, traffic studies, permits and other preconstruction costs). Commissioners authorized the chair to sign and staff to submit the reimbursement package and, once funds are received, to pay the listed vendors.

On county debt, the manager recommended prepaying the outstanding installment note on the 117 West Third Street property (the Francisco building) because the note had become callable in October 2024. Staff presented a payoff amount and recommended appropriating a small amount of fund balance to complete the payoff; the board approved prepayment.

Finally, county staff reviewed a required written response to a recent external financial audit that identified misclassifications in the county’s accounting records (two DEQ grants had been recorded inconsistently between grant and loan accounts; broadband project amounts had been recorded in the wrong fund; two leases were not initially recorded under GASB 87). Staff said the errors were self‑reported and explained remedial accounting entries and new controls for lease accounting. The board approved the response letter for submittal to the Local Government Commission.