Auditors give Sumter County a clean opinion but note one material weakness at the library

Auditors from Mauldin & Jenkins reported an unmodified (clean) opinion on Sumter County’s basic financial statements for fiscal year 2022–2023 and on compliance for major federal programs, the firm told County Council on Jan. 23.

Jed Jacob said the audit was performed in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) and Government Auditing Standards (GAS). Jacob told the council the auditors considered internal control for purposes of expressing an opinion on the financial statements and that their objective is reasonable—not absolute—assurance that statements are free of material misstatement.

The auditors reported no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting for the county overall, but they identified one material weakness related to the Sumter County Library. In single-audit testing, the firm examined two major federal programs: the U.S. Department of Transportation Airport Improvement Program (about $4.0 million) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (ARPA, about $3.2 million). The county did not qualify as a “low risk” auditee under federal guidelines, the auditors noted, but they issued unmodified opinions on compliance for each major program and reported no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal-control compliance testing.

Council received the audit as information; no action was required or taken at the Jan. 23 meeting.