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Auditor issues clean opinion on Rock County’s 2024 financials; fund balance and enterprise losses highlighted
Summary
Audit firm Baker Tilly presented an unmodified opinion on Rock County’s 2024 financial statements and highlighted a general fund balance of about $55.9 million, a below-policy unassigned fund ratio and operating losses in several enterprise funds.
Baker Tilly delivered the independent auditor’s report for Rock County’s 2024 fiscal year at the Sept. 11 Board of Supervisors meeting and issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the county’s financial statements.
Andrea Janssen, principal in charge of the audit for Baker Tilly, told the board the firm issued the highest level of assurance and included an “emphasis of matter” paragraph noting the county implemented GASB 100 and had some changes to estimates related to self-insurance. “We were able to issue an unmodified opinion again this year — that’s also known as a clean opinion,” Janssen said.
Janssen summarized key figures: the county’s total general fund balance was just under $55.9 million at year-end 2024, a decline of about $400,000 from 2023. Of that, unassigned fund balance was about $28 million. Baker Tilly calculated an unassigned-fund-balance-to-expenditures ratio of 15.5%, below the county’s policy range of 20%–25%. Janssen noted that an apples-to-apples comparison using strictly general-fund expenditures would yield a 40.5% ratio, which is comparable with peer counties.
The audit presentation also flagged long-term debt and enterprise fund results. General obligation debt outstanding was about $138.8 million, and the county’s debt-service ratio rose to 6.1%, driven by recent capital investments. Proprietary (enterprise) funds showed operating losses in 2024; Janssen said these losses are typically subsidized by tax levies and intergovernmental transfers in county operations such as nursing homes and highway funds.
Janssen said a separate management communication (audit results report) was still being finalized pending additional procedures for Rock Haven required by the Department of Health Services; that report was expected by the end of the month. She commended county staff for their work preparing audit materials and offered to answer questions once the management communication report is released.
The board did not take formal action on the audit at the meeting beyond receiving the presentation. Janssen directed supervisors to specific pages for more detail and noted several items the board may wish to consider in future budgeting, including assigned fund balances, advances to highway and motor pool funds, and capital funding strategy.
