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External auditors report repeated material weaknesses and some qualified opinions but note financial improvement
Summary
CliftonLarsonAllen and the Arizona Auditor General presented the FY2024 audit: multiple repeated material weaknesses (IT controls, inventory, segregation of duties), qualified opinions for certain funds (gravel/dirt roads accounting under GASB 34, road fund, golf and parks enterprise funds), and positive trends including a restored general-fund balance and declining pension obligations.
CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA), on behalf of the Arizona Auditor General's office, presented La Paz County's fiscal year 2024 audit results to the Board of Supervisors.
Carla Wall (Arizona Auditor General) and Lupita Martinez (CLA) reviewed the audit scope and results. CLA issued clean opinions on most financial statements but reported qualified opinions for certain areas: governmental activities related to gravel and dirt roads accounting under GASB 34 (approximately $41.5 million of infrastructure assets), the governmental road fund, the golf course enterprise fund, and the parks enterprise fund. The qualified opinions reflected insufficient documentation for inventory counts in some funds and limitations in internal controls over revenue recognition (charges for services) and cash collections.
Auditors identified 10 material weaknesses and one significant deficiency — many are repeat findings from prior-year audits — mainly tied to IT controls (user access, deprovisioning, authentication requirements, lack of formal IT risk assessment and policies), inventory procedures, segregation of duties, and accounting for infrastructure assets. CLA provided management-letter recommendations including improved retention of documentation for credit-card user agreements, formal vendor/SOC report reviews, and enhanced cyber and IT controls. The auditors also noted areas of improvement: the general fund had a positive fund balance (reported as approximately $9.3M–$9.5M in discussion) and pension obligations have declined since 2021.
County staff acknowledged the repeat findings and described ongoing work with departments to address them; auditors said many items are being actively addressed and that they anticipate the county will be caught up on audits by the March 31, 2026 deadline. Board members thanked auditors and staff and expressed support for continuing the improvements.
