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Newton County receives clean 2022 audit; general fund, unassigned cash rise
Summary
An independent auditor gave Newton County an unqualified opinion on its 2022 financial statements, reporting higher fund balances and corrected grant timing; the commissioners' court received the report and asked staff to continue follow-up work on accounting updates.
Charles E. Reed of Charles E. Reed and Associates presented Newton County's audited financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022, and said the firm issued an unqualified, or "clean," opinion on the county's books.
"This is called an unqualified or clean audit opinion," Reed told the commissioners as he summarized the report and walked through governmentwide financial statements, balance sheets and fund accounting schedules.
Reed said the county's general fund assets rose compared with the prior year and that the county reported higher unassigned fund balance and more cash on hand after accounting for grants and liabilities. He described one recurring finding that had been corrected: timing differences in recording grant revenues and expenditures, which required adjustments to prior years' entries going back several years but have since been addressed.
County officials pressed Reed on cash and unencumbered balances. The County Judge asked whether the roughly $1.4'$1.5 million discussed in the presentation represented unencumbered cash in the general fund; Reed confirmed that amount represented cash and receivables that were not restricted, explaining that some fund balances included grant receipts and other restricted resources.
Commissioners thanked Reed and moved to receive the presentation. The motion to receive the 2022 audit was made and seconded and carried on the court's voice vote.
The presentation also noted the county had adequate custodial coverage for bank balances (insured or collateralized) and that total governmental fund assets and liabilities were broadly in line with expectations. Reed said audits for later years were underway and that county staff had cooperated fully with the audit work.
The court took no immediate corrective action beyond accepting the report but directed staff to continue implementing the accounting adjustments and to keep commissioners informed as more current audits are completed.
