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Bremer County auditors give FY25 financial statements a clean opinion as ARPA spending is drawn down
Summary
Madison Larkin Company presented Bremer County’s FY25 audit, concluding the financial statements "present fairly." The audit shows $4.6 million in recovery funds spent, about $200,000 remaining, rising capital assets and recurring internal-control observations the board agreed to address.
Bremer County supervisors on Tuesday accepted the county’s FY25 audited financial statements, hearing from Mike Padisa of Madison Larkin Company that the documents “present fairly” a snapshot of the county’s finances for the year ended June 30, 2025.
Padisa told the board the audit found total net position rose by about $1.2 million year over year, capital assets increased roughly $3.2 million and cash balances were down about $4–5 million compared with the prior year. He said some of the change reflected the spending of federal recovery funds. “We have audited the financial statements of Bremer County as of and for the year ended June 30, 25. In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly,” Padisa said.
The auditor summarized grant and recovery activity in the year: the county reported roughly $3.2 million in federal grant expenditures (about $2.5 million of that from American Rescue Plan Act-related buckets), and countywide spending of roughly $4.6 million from recovery and related sources through March 31, 2025, leaving about $200,000 of those project funds to be spent before June 30th, staff said.
Padisa also flagged recurring, nonnew internal-control comments that auditors frequently report for local governments, including segregation-of-duties limitations within the auditor’s office, notes related to landfill closure accounting and a negative cash balance that has appeared in one drainage district fund. He said those issues are familiar risks for small governments and typically represent “cost-benefit” choices rather than immediate red flags. “I don't think there's anything I would call above minimal risk,” he told supervisors.
Supervisors moved to accept the audit, then approved a small correction to the landfill-closure note in the published report after staff explained the footnote had not been updated before the initial submittal; the board authorized the chair to sign corrected materials to be sent to the state auditor.
What happens next: county staff will continue follow-up on auditor recommendations and finalize year-end close items tied to recovery fund spending and drainage district accounting. The board also authorized the engagement letter for the FY26 audit.
Sources: Remarks and figures presented by Mike Padisa, Madison Larkin Company, and staff presentations to the Bremer County Board of Supervisors during the May meeting.
