Pine County accepts 2024 audit; state auditor issued unmodified opinion, finds and documents one corrected internal control weakness
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Summary
County Auditor‑Treasurer Kelly Schroeder presented the 2024 audited financial statements. The state auditor issued an unmodified opinion on financial statements and federal awards; a material internal control weakness tied to project invoice coding was identified and corrected.
Pine County formally accepted its 2024 audited financial statements after County Auditor‑Treasurer Kelly Schroeder summarized the report and the state auditor’s findings.
Schroeder told the board the audit (a roughly 130‑page document) contained an unmodified opinion for both the county’s financial statements and its federal awards. The county’s single‑audit federal review covered highway planning and construction funds and Medicaid; the auditors reported no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in those federal programs.
The state auditor did note one material internal control weakness relating to the timing and coding of a highway invoice: an invoice for a 2024 project was paid in January 2025 and initially had not been recorded as a 2024 expenditure, which also caused the related reimbursement to be unrecorded for the correct year. Schroeder said staff caught and corrected the item and implemented procedural changes — including clarified coding protocols between the Highway Department and auditor’s office — to prevent recurrence.
The audit showed the county’s unrestricted general fund balance increased in 2024 and that Pine County’s reliance on property taxes as a share of revenue fell from 40% in 2022 to 35% in 2024. Schroeder highlighted stable function‑level spending and stronger interest income from more active cash management.
Board action: a commissioner moved to accept the audit, a second was recorded and the board voted to accept the 2024 audit (motion carried; one recorded commissioner said he opposed acceptance on grounds of a separate parcel tax issue). The audit acceptance vote was recorded as carried.
Why it matters: an unmodified audit opinion indicates the county’s financial statements and federal award presentations are fairly stated in all material respects; the identified internal control weakness was procedural and was corrected, according to staff.
Ending: Schroeder and staff said the county would continue to monitor federal programs and internal controls and that audit follow‑ups would appear in future audit communications and committee reports.
