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Kent County audit returns clean opinion; first-quarter finances show $600,000 favorable result
Summary
An independent auditor gave Kent County an unmodified opinion on fiscal year 2025 financial statements, and county staff reported roughly $600,000 in favorable net results for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, driven largely by recordation taxes and interest income.
An independent auditor told the Kent County Commissioners on Jan. 6 that the county’s fiscal year 2025 financial statements received a clean, or “unmodified,” opinion and that the audit revealed no instances of fraud or material weaknesses in internal control.
“We’ve issued a clean or what’s termed unmodified opinion on the financial statements,” said Chris Lehman of SP and Company, the engagement partner for the county’s audit, summarizing the firm’s conclusion that the statements were “reasonably free of material misstatement.” Lehman added the audit required no proposed adjustments and that the auditors received timely cooperation and adequate backup from staff.
County finance staff also presented first-quarter fiscal 2026 results, which they described as favorable overall. The presentation said revenues were budgeted at $38,000,002.82 for the quarter and came in at $38,000,003.85—about $103,000 over budget—while expenses were budgeted at $31,000,893 and actual expenses were approximately $31,000,395, producing a net positive result of “about a little over $600,000” for the quarter. Staff attributed most of the revenue variance to recordation taxes and noted favorable variances in interest income and service charges; they cautioned that some variances may be timing-related with only a quarter elapsed.
The auditors said they performed tests across key cycles—treasury, payroll, revenue, fixed assets and information technology—and found the design and operation of controls effective for the period under audit. Lehman said there were no audit adjustments, no discovered fraud, and no disagreements with management over accounting treatment.
Commissioners reacted positively to the results and thanked finance staff. Lehman invited staff to consult auditors on novel accounting transactions outside of audit season to avoid later questions during the audit process.
What’s next: staff said a state forecast meeting next month will provide additional revenue outlooks that may affect projections for the remainder of the fiscal year.
