Surry County receives clean FY2025 audit; Board approves budget amendment

Travis Keever, of Gould Killian CPA Group, told the Surry County Board of Commissioners on March 16 that the county’s FY2025 financial statements received a clean ("unmodified") opinion, while auditors identified a material weakness in internal control and one instance of material noncompliance.

Keever said the material weakness related to roughly $630,000 in unrecorded accounts receivable and about $1.4 million in miscoded capital outlay; the noncompliance involved expenditures in the landfill fund that exceeded appropriations because of an unbudgeted equipment financing. He reported the county’s available fund balance was about 45% of net expenditures, above the Local Government Commission recommendation of 25%.

The audit presentation included totals showing nearly $87 million in assets, approximately $119 million in revenues, and about $121 million in expenditures; the property tax collection rate remained over 99%.

Following the audit report, county finance staff presented Budget Amendment #13 and associated line‑item adjustments. The amendment increased funding for Maternal Health and Family Planning program accounts and adjusted revenue and grant lines for the Altec Reuse project, raising the project construction budget to $525,000 to match a grant increase. The Board approved the budget amendment as presented.

The audit and budget actions conclude the county’s FY2025 reporting cycle and set the accounting adjustments and grant increases for implementation by county departments and finance staff.