Marathon County audit yields clean opinion; $8 million loan and budget choices shrink available fund balance

The Marathon County Human Resources, Finance and Property Committee heard a report on the county's 2024 draft financial statements that said auditors will issue an unmodified (clean) opinion and that the county's fund balance has fallen after recent commitments, including an $8,000,000 loan cited in the audit materials.

County Administrator Leonard told the committee the draft financials show an "unmodified opinion" and that staff will return in August with final audit acceptance; the county submitted the audit in July as required. John, a partner from audit firm Baker Tilly, said the audit team "did issue a clean opinion" on the financial statements and noted improvements in the audit process compared with recent years.

The audit materials include an annual comprehensive financial report, the first such submission since 2018, which Administrator Leonard and the auditors said increases transparency by adding historical…