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Finance director reports heavy audit workload, drain office reconciliation and staffing strain ahead of budget season
Summary
Finance staff briefed the committee on corrective actions from the annual audit, work on drain assessments and federal single‑audit requirements; staff shortages left the controller’s office stretched and the committee authorized hiring an accountant to help with audit and grant accounting.
EATON COUNTY — Controller and finance staff told the Ways and Means Committee the county is managing several audit‑related corrective actions and that the controller’s office is stretched thin while preparing reports required for the annual audit and for state trial court funding reviews.
Melissa (surname not stated) — the finance leader who is handling accounting tasks in the interim — and Controller Ben Sobe explained auditors’ findings were largely process and timing issues, not errors in the county’s financial statements. Still, staff said the corrective action plan requires documentation and reconciliation work, including a detailed review of drain assessment receivables and related capital entries. The drain commissioner’s office is short staffed, and prior accounting work on special assessments required finance staff to step in.
Sobe said the treasurer’s office has been cooperative in reconciling tax and foreclosure/land‑bank items; staff discovered federal funds for a Sunfield project that must be reported on federal reporting forms, a detail that could have caused noncompliance with single‑audit reporting if overlooked. Sobe credited treasurer staff and interim finance staff for timely work to identify and pass documentation to auditors.
Staff told the committee the single‑audit (federal awards) work is substantial and that prior reliance on a controller’s accountant has left the department responsible for a larger workload while the position is vacant. The committee authorized hiring an accountant for the controller’s office to handle grant accounting and audit responses.
Finance staff also presented health‑insurance and self‑insurance fund reports through November indicating pressure on the county’s health fund balance. The county used ARPA dollars and vacancy savings to mitigate some costs, but staff said expenditures have run ahead of premium contributions and that the county continues to monitor prescription, professional services and stop‑loss expenses. The finance director and controller said they would provide updated figures as December activity posts.
Sobe warned the courthouse’s limited generator capacity remains a capital need; Facilities Director Chad Powers said a full generator upgrade would be a multimillion‑dollar project listed in long‑term capital planning.
Committee members were briefed on the schedule for state court funding reporting that requires detailed position and cost breakdowns; the state is expected to issue a funding report in October 2025 that could alter trial court funding flows.
