Auditor General: Gila County receives clean opinions but four internal-control findings remain

The Arizona Auditor General's office told the Gila County Board of Supervisors on May 19 that the county's financial statements earned unmodified ("clean") opinions for fiscal year 2025, even as auditors reported four internal-control findings and one federal compliance issue requiring corrective action.

"For fiscal year 2025, we reported an unmodified or a clean opinion," Terrence Stengel, the audit manager who led the presentation, told the board. Stengel noted the county's FY25 revenues were $91.4 million and the total net position was $51.5 million as of June 30, 2025.

Auditors said they issued three reports on March 31, 2026: the annual financial report, a report on internal control and compliance, and the single-audit report covering federal programs. "We reported 4 findings on internal control and compliance," Stengel said; Dan Hunt, deputy financial audit manager, then reviewed the specifics.

Hunt described the most serious financial-statement finding as deficiencies in the treasurer's office: "The county treasurer's office did not safeguard monies collected, dispersed, and invested on behalf of the county and the local governments," he said. The auditors said the treasurer's office had not completed timely reconciliations, had inadequate segregation of duties, and had not obtained board approval for investment adviser services as required by county policy. The audit lists 15 recommendations and records the county's target correction date as June 30, 2027.

A second finding concerned purchasing-card (P-card) usage: auditors found $2,955 in public money spent on P-cards without adequate documentation or approval in some cases and recommended policy updates, better approvals, and additional training; the county reported a plan to correct these findings by June 2026.

The auditors also flagged repeated IT control weaknesses, including insufficient inventory and classification of sensitive data and gaps in access, change management and contingency planning. Several of those IT recommendations repeat prior-year findings dating back multiple audit cycles.

In the single-audit federal compliance work, auditors said the county did not maintain documentation that it verified one vendor paid $623,000 with American Rescue Plan (Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund) dollars had not been suspended or debarred by the federal government, increasing the risk of paying an ineligible vendor. Auditors recommended developing vendor-verification policies and retaining verification documentation.

Auditors emphasized the reports provide "reasonable, not absolute" assurance and asked the county to provide written corrective-action plans in response to the findings. County staff acknowledged the recommendations and described timelines for remediation.

The board received the presentation and asked staff for follow-up; auditors said they would continue to monitor prior-year findings until corrected.