Bee County receives clean audit for fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2024

Travis Rogers, a certified public accountant with the county's outside auditors, presented Bee County's annual comprehensive financial report for the year ended Sept. 30, 2024, telling the commissioners the audit produced an unmodified (clean) opinion.

Rogers said the report shows an unassigned general fund balance of about $8,600,000, which he calculated as just over six months of the county's general-fund expenditures for the year (about $15,600,000), and that the county expended $5,741,180 in federal and state awards during FY2024. He told the court the audit identified no material departures from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and no reportable noncompliance in the single-audit testing.

The clean opinion means, Rogers said, that "the accompanying financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position" of the county for the year ended Sept. 30, 2024. He also summarized the single-audit results and said the county complied, in all material respects, with requirements for major federal and state programs tested.

County officials and members of the auditors' team praised the county auditor's office and departmental staff for preparing records and answering questions in support of the audit. Commissioners noted the size of the unassigned fund balance as a healthy reserve within the guideline range that local governments commonly target.

The auditors left copies of the annual comprehensive financial report, the single audit report and the required-communications letter with the court. Commissioners offered no action beyond accepting the presentation.