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Auditor flags sheriff's office budget controls as a material weakness in Burke County annual report
Summary
An independent auditor told the Burke County Board of Commissioners that the Sheriff's Office lacks budgetary controls that have repeatedly left the department over budget and recommended the board work with the office to resolve the issue.
Kay Proctor of audit firm Lanier, Deal, Proctor & Bloser presented Burke County's Annual Financial Report for the year ended Sept. 30, 2023, telling the Board that the county's finances are sound overall but that "material weaknesses remain within the Sheriff's Office's lack of budgetary controls which continue to cause that department to be over budget." She recommended the board continue working with the Sheriff's Office to resolve those control deficiencies.
The presentation was delivered during the Board's June 11 meeting in the Burke County Courthouse. Proctor said her remarks aimed to provide a "big picture level of the county's financials" and to highlight items the Board may want to review in more detail, singling out the Sheriff's Office for repeat budgetary problems.
County Manager Merv Waldrop and Commissioners did not take formal action on the audit during the meeting but heard the recommendation that the Board coordinate with Sheriff's Office leadership to strengthen controls. The issue was presented as a management recommendation rather than as a binding finding that mandates immediate corrective steps from the Board.
The audit presentation did not include a specific dollar figure tied to the Sheriff's Office's overages in the transcript excerpt; the auditor focused on the control weakness and the recommendation for corrective work with the Sheriff's Office. The Board later approved several budget amendments and funding actions across departments during the same meeting.
The Board meeting adjourned at 7:31 PM after an executive-session discussion related to a real estate matter in which no final action was taken.
