Washington County audit returns clean opinion; board accepts financial statements

Auditors presented a clean opinion on Washington County’s financial statements and on selected federal programs, and the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to accept the report.

Mr. Coleman, who presented the audit to the board, said the county’s net position at year-end was about $84,507,000 and that the general fund’s total revenues grew at an annualized rate of roughly 2.2% to about $93 million. He told the board there were no material weaknesses or internal control deficiencies identified and that the selected federal programs reviewed showed compliance. “The audit went very well,” he said, adding the county received a clean opinion.

Coleman reviewed fund-balance detail: combined governmental fund balance ended the year near $55.9 million with roughly $40–$40.5 million unassigned, and unassigned fund balance to expenditures stood near 23% (down from about 24%). He said fund-balance-to-expenditures and cash-balance measures were healthy relative to minimum guidance and noted that, on a per-capita basis, the county’s long-term obligations were low compared with many Virginia counties.

Board members asked about reserve targets. One supervisor noted unassigned reserves near 16–17%; Coleman recommended a target closer to 20% as reasonable and said levels below 10% would be concerning. The board then moved to accept the financial statements; the motion passed by voice vote with seven in favor and none opposed.

The auditor also noted an accounting standard (noted in the handout as 01/2003) that will require expanded disclosures on budget-to-actual figures in upcoming reports. Coleman encouraged board members and staff to review the longer report and offered his contact information for follow-up questions. The board accepted the audit and thanked staff for their responsiveness during the audit process.