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Auditors present Johnston County financial report; county staff preview 2024 results and fund balance outlook
Summary
An outside auditor reviewed Johnston County's fiscal 2023 audit and presented key numbers including high tax collection rates and rising debt. County financial staff updated the board through Dec. 31, projecting lower year-end fund-balance percentage and explaining reasons for reserves and recent tax-rate reductions.
An external auditor presented Johnston County's fiscal report and highlighted multiyear trends in fund balances, debt and enterprise fund performance. County finance staff later updated the board with preliminary results through Dec. 31.
The auditor said the county's general fund had a total fund balance of approximately $269,000,000 and noted collection percentages for property taxes of 99.92%. The auditor told the board that enterprise funds (water, wastewater, solid waste) showed positive operating results and that total debt outstanding had risen from about $415,000,000 in 2020 to about $667,000,000, reflecting many ongoing projects.
County Finance Director (name not specified) told commissioners that financial activity through Dec. 31 was “tracking the way we budgeted.” He said ad valorem collections remained strong and that sales tax and investment income were trending upward compared with recent years. He projected the county's unassigned general fund balance percentage would end the fiscal year in the low 60s (about 61%), down from the 71.77% reported in the audit.
The director attributed part of the projected decline to a series of tax-rate reductions the board enacted since 2019 that together reduced the rate by 11 cents. He also explained that the county functions as a financial backstop for partner agencies and may need sizable reserves to respond to events such as infrastructure damage from storms, citing a prior example when the county temporarily covered roughly $4,000,000 to restore a wastewater plant.
The finance director also highlighted the county's credit standing, saying the county had retained a AAA rating that lowers borrowing costs and “saved the county taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in interest.” He described current market expectations that bonds sold now could receive interest rates “in the mid threes,” producing savings over time.
Commissioners thanked county finance staff and the auditors for the presentation. The board approved the audit presentation by voice vote earlier in the meeting (voice vote; no roll-call tally recorded). The auditor said the audit and related reports would be uploaded to the county website in the near future.
Less-critical details include the auditor's suggestion to append four prior-year audit numbers to the report to provide trend context and the auditor's praise for the tax office's work collecting property taxes.
The county will publish the final audit documents online once posted.
