County auditor gives unmodified opinion; administrator outlines capital project timelines

Chester County’s fiscal year 2024 financial statements received an unmodified (clean) opinion from auditors Shaheen Hancock & Godwin, the county’s auditor announced at the Feb. 18 council meeting. The auditor said the audit was completed on time and found no material weaknesses in internal controls or deficiencies in federal-award expenditures that were tested.

Nut graf: The clean audit lets the county place $1.1 million into a capital reserve and reports an unassigned general fund balance of about $18.3 million (the auditor reported that with the addition of capital reserve transfers the county’s total fund balance would be roughly $21.1 million).

Details from the audit presentation

Auditor Mark Wood summarized key figures from the report: general fund total assets of about $43.2 million, liabilities of about $24.8 million leaving a fund balance near $18.3 million; total general fund revenues of roughly $32.8 million and expenditures near $28.1 million. Proprietary funds showed a combined positive change in net position; auditors reported no findings on internal controls or federal-award compliance.

Administrator’s report: operations and projects

County administrator Hester told council the landfill transfer station will be closed Feb. 20–24 for new concrete work paid in the current budget; household garbage pickups and recycling centers will continue and the county has contingency plans to route compactors to Lancaster or Columbia if needed. Hester also updated council on several capital projects: the county is finishing a phase 1 environmental for the donated Dawson Drive Baseball Complex and will close on the donation after that study is complete; Lewis Fire Station has reached substantial completion with landscaping as remaining work; Robins Sports Complex is on track for mid-June completion despite weather delays; the animal shelter contractor starts Feb. 25 with a 360-day contract for completion in Feb. 2026. Hester said staff were monitoring winter weather conditions and would inform the public of any facility impacts.

Quotes

Auditor Mark Wood: "The county received an unmodified opinion. That's the highest opinion we can give on a set of financial statements."

Treasurer Tommy Darby thanked county finance staff and said the council's fund-balance policy enabled the capital reserve placement: "Based on the fund balance that we have from the audit, we're going to put about $1,100,000 into capital reserve."

Ending: The audit and project updates position the county to begin implementation steps on several capital projects and to use part of FY24’s positive fund performance to build capital reserves.