Annual external audit: Cache County financial statements 'materially correct,' auditors cite material weakness in controls

Jones Simpkins audit partner Jason Slide presented the Cache County annual external audit to the council and said the auditors concluded the county’s financial statements are materially correct.

"I can say as right at the top of the page 1, you'll see that we issue an opinion that these financial statements are materially correct," Jason Slide said during the presentation. He described the audit approach, the required reports, and the focus on higher-risk and high-dollar areas.

Slide reported that when a county spends more than $750,000 in federal funds it requires a federal single audit; the county and component units combined spent $14,500,000.0 in federal funds this year, and auditors tested $8,800,000.0 of that amount. He said most of the federal work tested related to ARPA funds and that "we have no findings there" for federal awards.

However, Slide told the council that auditors "did identify and what we feel like there's a material weakness in internal controls," and that they also identified a significant deficiency. He said those control issues were largely attributable to substantial turnover in the county finance department and noted the auditors had received a corrective action plan from County Auditor Funk.

Slide explained that the audit includes four primary reports: an independent auditor's report with an opinion on the financial statements; a report on internal controls and compliance; a federal single audit where required; and state-required compliance procedures under the Utah State Auditor's compliance guide. He emphasized auditors' responsibilities to obtain reasonable assurance and perform risk-based procedures.

The transcript includes references to specific pages in the audit report where findings and procedures are detailed (for example, the independent auditor's report on 'page 1' and the internal controls discussion around 'page 109' and 'pages 110–116' in the report), and Slide encouraged council members to review the provided PDFs and the hard copy delivered to the council.

What happens next: the audit identifies a material weakness and a significant deficiency; a corrective action plan from County Auditor Funk was noted in the meeting record. The transcript does not record a formal council vote required on the audit presentation; staff follow-up on corrective actions and implementation timing was discussed but not resolved in the meeting record.