Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Audit topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County auditors present FY2023 closing conference; commissioners approve representation letter
Summary
Department of Legislative Audit reviewed Lincoln County's FY2023 financial statements, reported one internal control deficiency and one material violation of state law related to a highway budget overdraft, and asked commissioners to sign the required representation letter. The board approved the requested action by roll call.
Sherry Lund, Lincoln County auditor, introduced David Weidler of the Department of Legislative Audit at the Feb. 11 county commission meeting to present the closing conference for the FY2023 audit. Weidler apologized for the delay and described the required communications between auditors and the county.
Weidler said auditors reviewed the county's accounting policies and found them appropriate. He said auditors made formal adjustments to correct material misstatements and provided management with a list of other nontrivial, unposted adjustments. He also noted the auditors require a signed letter of representation from management confirming, among other items, disclosure of known and suspected fraud, grant and bond compliance, and that management accepts responsibility for internal control and non-audit services.
The audit team identified one deficiency in internal control for financial reporting that required multiple adjustments to the statements. Weidler also told commissioners that the county had not recorded a December 2023 interest payment and related investment earnings on the Series 2023 bond during 2023; those amounts were posted to the books the prior week.
Weidler told the board auditors had identified one material violation of state law prohibiting expenditures in excess of an approved budget (cited in the meeting as a statutory reference). He said the highway fund had an overdraft of roughly $1 million caused when a project expenditure was recorded but the corresponding grant revenue was not recorded, and that the county had since posted the correcting entries.
Commissioners had no questions. The board moved and seconded approval of the auditors' requested representation/board governance letter; the clerk called the roll and recorded unanimous "yes" votes from Commissioners Arons, Otten, Putnam and Landin. The board then thanked Weidler and moved on to the next agenda item.
Why it matters: public audits document whether county financial statements present fairly and whether controls and budgeting rules were followed; the auditors flagged a budgetary violation that the county must monitor to avoid repeated overdrafts.
The commissioners directed that the requested representation letter be signed by the chair and the county auditor before the auditor left that day. The audit report and management letter will be included in the county's official financial records and portal.
