County auditors issue clean opinion for Leavenworth County 2024 financials; single-audit had no federal findings

April Swartz, a partner at Barney & Associates, presented the county's annual audit for fiscal year 2024 and told the Board the firm issued a clean opinion on the county's financial statements and found no adjusting entries were necessary.

Swartz said the county reports on the Kansas Municipal Audit Guide (KMAG) regulatory basis (a cash/regulatory basis typical for Kansas counties) and that the audit also included a single audit under federal Uniform Guidance because the county spent more than the single-audit threshold in federal funds. The auditor reported no material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and no findings in the compliance testing of federal programs, including the CSLFRF (COVID recovery) dollars the county spent.

Key figures presented in the audit presentation: - Countywide beginning and ending balances (county funds): started the year with $39,776,002.58; receipts of $90,645,001.70; expenditures $88,731,755; reconciled year-end balance in county funds shown as approximately $41.7 million. - Total cash, checking and investments reported on the audit: about $123.3 million before allocations to others; roughly $80 million of that represented funds collected to remit to schools, cities and other entities, leaving the county's reconciled balance noted in the audit as in the low $40 millions. - Interest revenue outperformed budget by approximately $833,000 (audit cited $2,333,000 collected, $833,000 more than budgeted). - Outstanding debt: the audit listed three GO bonds with combined ending balance near $22.0 million and two KDHE revolving loans totaling roughly $462,000, for total debt reported around $22.0 million. - Federal expenditures totaled $7,601,000; of those, about $6,000,003 were CARES/CSLFRF/COVID-related funds which the single audit tested; auditors reported no federal compliance findings.

Swartz emphasized the audit is risk-based and includes both standard procedures and an unpredictability element to test areas not previously reviewed. She told the board the county followed required accounting and no budget-law violations were found; the audit's budget pages showed budgeted funds were not overspent.

Commissioners asked questions about whether published account balances on the audit create the impression the county has unencumbered reserves. Swartz and County Administrator Mark explained that many fund balances are designated for specific purposes and are not general, spendable reserves.

Why this matters: A clean audit and a finding-free single audit confirm the county's compliance with auditing standards and federal program rules, affecting financial transparency, bond-ratings perception and public reporting. The report also highlighted the county's current debt profile and how stronger interest earnings improved certain revenue lines.

Board members thanked audit staff and asked staff to continue monitoring investments and fund designations.