Auditors give Hardee County EDA unmodified opinion for year ending Sept. 30, 2024

CliftonLarsonAllen presented the Hardee County Economic Development Authority's audited financial statements for the year ended Sept. 30, 2024, and issued an unmodified opinion.

Julie Fowler, engagement director with CliftonLarsonAllen, told the EDA on June 2025 that the firm found the statements "in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles." She said the audit also included a review of internal controls and a management letter; auditors did not identify any material weaknesses or disagreements with management.

The audit showed the EDA used reserves in both funds during the 2024 fiscal year. "In your general fund, revenue came in at $1,800,000 and the total expenditures were just under $3,300,000," Fowler said, noting an overall decrease in the general fund balance of about $1.4 million for the year. She said the general fund's ending balance is about $5.7 million, with roughly $1.2 million available as unrestricted fund balance. Fowler said the recreation fund recorded roughly $23,000 in revenue and $784,000 in expenditures, leaving about $242,000 going into 2025; those decreases were planned uses of carried-forward reserves.

Fowler also reported an auditor's compliance review under Florida investment statutes and said CliftonLarsonAllen found the authority to be in compliance with the statute cited. "We did not identify any material weaknesses that needed to be reported to you," she said, adding that there were no recommendations that required reporting to the Auditor General.

Board members asked no follow-up questions after the presentation. The board later voted to accept and approve the EDA financial statements and the independent auditor's report for the year ending Sept. 30, 2024; that motion, made by Commissioner Flores and seconded by Olivia Minshew, passed unanimously.

The auditor offered to answer additional questions and left contact information for follow-up about the details of the report.