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Auditors give Westmoreland County a clean opinion, identify four material weaknesses
Summary
Independent auditors told the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors the county received an unmodified opinion for fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, while identifying four material weaknesses in internal control and listing recommendations; no single-audit findings were reported for major federal programs.
Independent auditors presented the County of Westmoreland’s annual financial report for the year ended June 30, 2024, saying the county received an unmodified (clean) opinion while the audit identified material weaknesses in internal control.
Mike Moran, a partner at RRC in Fredericksburg, told the Board of Supervisors the audit’s “independent auditor’s report” is clean: “for the year ended 06/30/2024, we had an unmodified opinion, which is a good clean opinion.” He summarized key financial statements, noting total net position across county and business-type activities was about $60.7 million and the governmental activities’ change in net position on a full‑accrual basis was about $235,000.
Moran said the single-audit review of federal programs did not identify material weaknesses for major programs. He also noted items the county should address in internal control: “for the year ended 06/30/2024, we did identify 4 material weaknesses,” and referenced the report pages listing those items and suggested management implement recommendations.
County administration acknowledged the findings and told the board staff would work with the auditor and an audit consultant the board previously approved to address the weaknesses and improve timeliness. County administration also pointed supervisors to additional materials left with the board, including a required “communication with those charged with governance” letter and minor management comments.
The auditors’ presentation included both full-accrual statements (for capital and long-term items) and modified-accrual statements used for budgeting. Moran highlighted a general fund ending fund balance of about $16.3 million, of which about $7.1 million was unassigned, and he pointed supervisors to note 12 on long-term obligations for more detail on debt and amortization schedules.
The presentation concluded with Moran offering to take follow-up questions and to provide a one-page summary document he had prepared for the board.
Ending: County administration said staff will follow up on audit recommendations and begin implementation work with the audit consultant and auditors to address the material weaknesses and to work toward more timely audits in future years.
