County officials told a public meeting that progress is being made on stalled financial audits and set internal preparation goals while acknowledging auditors’ limited capacity.

At the meeting, a county speaker reported, "The accountant said that the 20 23 is, I think, now 75% contained," an update indicating significant but incomplete work on the 2023 audit. Officials said the 2024 audit work will not begin until the county and auditors can confirm the 2023 fund balance and that auditors are constrained by tax-season workloads and staffing shortages.

The finance office discussed internal steps to speed the process. One participant said the county will provide additional accounting help for staff to reconcile 2024 accounts and that, "we could be done '24 and '25 by the end of this calendar year," if auditors are able and staffing permits. Finance staff said they likely need a month or two to prepare books and to train a new hire before delivering data to auditors.

Commissioners stressed the limits of local control over auditors’ schedules and emphasized that the finance team has taken responsibility for preparing records. The chair said staff should draft clarified response language to a budget-committee letter and return it for commissioner review at the next meeting.

The discussion concluded with the board asking staff to include audit timelines in future updates and to continue coordinating with auditors and state offices that are also reviewing records.

Next steps: staff will draft the amended response to the budget committee and provide an updated timeline for audit work at the next public meeting.