King William supervisors hear finance team’s plan to reconcile three years of budget errors; public hearing required for FY‑26 amendments

Finance staff told the King William County Board of Supervisors on Sept. 22 that they have begun a multi‑month effort to reconcile adopted budgets with actual FY‑25 expenditures and to bring FY‑26 baseline figures up to date. Miss Kayler, presenting the report, said the bulk of proposed amendments are salary and fringe adjustments missed when the county transitioned financial systems and that those changes push the proposed amendments above the 1% threshold that triggers a required public hearing under the Code of Virginia.

"The majority of the amendments right now ... is salaries and fringes," Miss Kayler said, describing a reconciliation that reaches back several years and an effort to recreate historical budget entries so future year‑over‑year reporting is accurate. She told the board the packet shows proposed amendments and that staff will schedule a public hearing before the board may adopt the changes.

Board members asked for specifics about the magnitude and timing of the hearing. When asked how far over the 1% threshold the amendments were, staff read a figure from the backup materials as presented in the meeting packet: "$1,000,000,007.29 and $2.75 and 12¢" (presented verbally during the meeting). Staff said the revenue side is still being reconciled and that the public hearing likely will be scheduled for late October or mid‑November so audit work can be completed first.

Staff described procedural and technical causes for the gap. The county moved to a new ERP/financial system over the past year, and some departments did not complete a recommended side‑by‑side verification and historical crosswalk. That created missing entries and audit‑trail problems that must be fixed before the county finalizes FY‑25 numbers for the auditors.

To assist the work, the county procured supplemental accounting support from an outside firm (CLA Accounting Services) to reconcile the trial balance to the FY‑24 ACFR and to prove revenue split methodologies. Miss Kayler said the goal is to have reconciled and auditable numbers before the December 15 deadline for the audit agency.

Board members expressed appreciation for the finance team’s rapid work and pressed staff to bring clear, written backup to the public hearing. Several supervisors emphasized the need for accurate historical reporting before the county considers any major policy changes or new spending commitments.

Next steps: staff will finish revenue reconciliations, finalize the amendment packet with clear dollar figures, work with the county attorney on notice requirements and return to the board with a public hearing date (staff suggested Oct. 27 or Nov. 17 as possibilities). The board did not take formal action at the Sept. 22 meeting beyond asking staff to prepare the public‑hearing materials.