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County auditor issues clean opinion; report identifies three control findings and a $1.83 million surplus
Summary
An external auditor gave Meriwether County an unmodified (clean) opinion for fiscal 2025, reporting roughly $46 million in assets and a $1.83 million unassigned surplus; the audit also lists three findings involving segregation of duties, capital‑asset completeness and a missing year‑end entry for water/sewer operations.
Meriwether County commissioners on April 28 received the county’s annual comprehensive financial report for the year ended Sept. 30, 2025, and were told the external auditor issued an unmodified (clean) opinion.
"In our opinion we did issue an unmodified report," said Will Ders, director with Malden and Jenkins, the engagement firm that performed the audit. Ders told the board the county’s governmentwide assets were approximately $46 million, liabilities about $5.8 million and net position roughly $40 million.
The presentation showed the county’s general fund brought in about $23 million in revenues, an increase of roughly $2 million from the prior year, and an increase in the general fund balance of about $1.7 million. Staff later pointed to an identified unassigned/uncommitted surplus of $1,829,483 in the financial statements.
Ders also outlined three audit findings the firm reported: (1) segregation‑of‑duties weaknesses across smaller authorities and elected offices that limit independent review of some journal entries and bank reconciliations; (2) capital‑asset completeness concerns, including historical land transactions that required retroactive valuation and ledger adjustments; and (3) an omitted year‑end entry affecting operating revenues in the water and sewage fund. He said the matters did not change the auditor’s clean opinion but warranted management action.
Commissioners were told the audit includes an emphasis‑of‑matter related to a new accounting standard and several management recommendations (timely probate deposits, fund reporting for sheriff drug forfeiture proceeds, review of IDA expenditures, and a reclassification for an airport authority capital asset). The board scheduled further review of the surplus and capital priorities for a May 11 work session.
The audit report, presentation materials and the pages referenced by the auditor are part of the county’s public record and were distributed to commissioners in advance of the meeting.
