County audit finds no federal grant problems but flags agency accounting, petty cash and an undelivered vehicle

Jacob Puyoff, audit partner at James Gordon & Associates, told the Geary County Commission that auditors issued an unmodified opinion on the county's regulatory basis of accounting but an adverse opinion under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. He also said the county required a single audit because federal expenditures exceeded the threshold for testing.

"We have issued an adverse opinion under US generally accepted accounting principles, and we have issued an unmodified opinion on the regulatory basis of accounting," Puyoff said, summarizing the two-tier outcome auditors must report under the county's accounting framework.

The audit identified three significant deficiencies the firm described as matters that warrant management attention but did not rise to the level of a material weakness. Puyoff said the findings were: (1) agency/distributable funds that required reclassification because revenue and expenses were being netted, (2) one county-authorized petty cash fund exceeded the authorized balance, and (3) the county purchased a 2022 Dodge Durango in January 2024 that was never delivered and the purchase was not discovered until late 2024.

Puyoff told commissioners the county received no findings tied to federal awards after auditors tested two grants: the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program and a FEMA disaster-public-assistance grant. "For the federal funds, you had no findings," he said.

On county finances, Puyoff said receipts were about $38 million, roughly in line with the prior year, and that overall cash (excluding certain bond and project funds) was down about $2 million. He pointed commissioners to the long-term debt schedule and to the schedule of expenditures of federal awards in the audit packet for additional detail.

Tammy Robinson, Geary County finance director, thanked department staff for providing required information and said the county submitted a corrective-action plan that auditors included as part of the audit report. Puyoff and Robinson said they expect some of the agency-fund reporting to be improved once the county completes its accounting system implementation and related reconciliations.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about the single audit threshold and the petty cash balances; Puyoff said the county triggered a single audit because federal expenditures exceeded the applicable threshold for testing this year and that the petty-cash overage was a repeat issue for a single fund held outside central accounting.

The audit packet included detailed footnotes, a schedule of long-term debt, and findings from the prior year with status updates. Puyoff said auditors identified no material weaknesses and characterized the current issues as significant deficiencies that the county is addressing.

The audit presentation concluded with an opportunity for commissioners to ask questions; no formal vote on the audit was recorded in the meeting transcript.