Auditors give Beaufort County clean FY24 opinion; no audit findings reported

Beaufort County's external auditor told the county's Finance, Administration & Economic Development Committee on Feb. 18 that the county's fiscal year 2024 financial statements earned an unmodified (clean) opinion and that auditors found no reportable internal-control weaknesses or compliance findings.

David Erwin, partner with auditing firm Malden Jenkins, told the committee, “we're issuing a clean or unmodified opinion on this year's report.” He said the county also received an unmodified opinion on its single-audit of federal programs and that the Yellow Book review of internal controls produced no findings.

The clean results, Erwin said, reflect the county's accounting work and cooperation with auditors. He noted the county had about $18 million in federal expenditures in FY24, which triggered a single audit that covered three major federal programs.

From a high-level view, Erwin summarized the county's government-wide totals as roughly $1.2 billion in assets and deferred outflows, with about $647 million in capital assets and about $490 million in cash and investments. He said total revenues were approximately $380 million — an increase of roughly $84 million from FY23 — while expenses were just under $250 million, producing an increase in net position to about $833 million.

Erwin also highlighted the county's general fund: roughly $184 million in general-fund revenue (about a $14 million increase year over year), with property taxes making up about $129 million or roughly 70% of those revenues. Total general-fund expenditures were about $168 million, producing an increase in the fund balance to an ending general-fund balance near $95.2 million, or roughly five months of operating expenditures, Erwin said.

The auditor noted four enterprise funds (stormwater, two airports, and solid waste/recycling). Three generated operating income in FY24; the solid-waste fund had a modest operating loss of just over $0.5 million that year but improved overall net position after transfers and nonoperating revenues.

Erwin encouraged committee members and the public to read the Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) section of the county's annual comprehensive financial report, and said the report again earned a Government Finance Officers Association certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting — a distinction the auditor said the county has received for multiple consecutive years.

Chief Financial Officer Harriet Harrott added that the county's fund balance is "pretty healthy," and reminded the committee that existing county ordinances require portions of fund balance to be reserved — she cited a 30% general reserve and a separate hurricane-season reserve (about 17%) that together leave a portion of the balance not available for discretionary use. Harrott said county staff are reviewing options for responsible drawdowns and noted current revenue and expenditure trends were tracking close to budget.

The auditor closed by thanking county staff for cooperation and work that helped meet the year-end reporting deadline and deliver the audit on time.

The presentation generated no committee questions that changed the audit opinion or produced additional findings; the committee accepted the presentation and moved on to later agenda items.