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County auditors give Wicomico clean opinion but flag reconciliations and grant accounting weaknesses
Summary
PKS and Company presented the fiscal year 2024 audit, issuing an unmodified (clean) opinion while noting one material weakness in account reconciliations and two significant deficiencies for grant and bank reconciliations; county general fund unassigned balance grew to $85.36 million.
PKS and Company, the county's independent auditors, presented the fiscal year 2024 audited financial statements to the Wicomico County Council on April 1 and issued an unmodified opinion — commonly called a clean opinion — while reporting internal-control issues that warrant council attention.
Ashley Sharon, a partner with PKS and Company, told the council the auditors “issued an unmodified opinion previously known as unqualified, and this is what's also known as a clean opinion.” The opinion means the auditors did not find material misstatements in the county’s financial statements.
At the same time, Sharon said the auditors identified one material weakness related to account reconciliations and two significant deficiencies tied to grant and bank reconciliations. The firm found no material noncompliance under government auditing standards but stressed continued staffing and reconciliation issues in finance.
Key figures from the audit: the county’s unrestricted net position for the primary government was reported at about $99.82 million; net pension liability was approximately $36 million (about 73% funded); the general fund unassigned fund balance stood at $85.36 million, representing roughly 302 days of operating expenditures versus a GFOA recommendation of no less than 60 days.
Sharon and audit manager Ryan Taylor said revenue increases from 2023 to 2024 included income taxes, investment income and American Rescue Plan Act receipts recognized in 2024 after spending. The auditors also noted the conversion of the airport from an enterprise fund to a governmental fund in 2024 and called out GASB Statement No. 101 (compensated absences) as an upcoming accounting standard that will likely increase recorded liabilities.
Council discussion focused on repeat findings, staffing vacancies in finance and timing of the audit. Sharon said Munis software upgrades and staff vacancies delayed testing but said the firm did not identify lost grant funds in its testing for 2024. Council members pressed whether interim testing or contracted accounting assistance could speed future audits; the auditors recommended improved staff retention and suggested staggered interim testing as a possible approach.
The presentation was informational; no ordinance or appropriation was before the council at this meeting.
