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Reno County accepts 2025 audit and agrees to co-apply on BRIC tornado shelter for St. Joseph's Catholic School
Summary
The commission accepted an unmodified opinion on the county's regulatory-basis 2025 financial statements and unanimously approved Reno County as co-applicant on a BRIC application for a 4,500-square-foot tornado shelter at St. Joseph's Catholic School; no county funds were pledged.
Reno County commissioners approved the county’s 2025 audit and agreed to be the sponsoring jurisdiction on a BRIC grant application for a community tornado shelter at St. Joseph's Catholic School.
Auditors Jamie Benchek and Alexis Crispen of Adams Brown & Hayes told the board they issued an unmodified opinion on the county’s regulatory basis of accounting (the county elects regulatory rather than U.S. GAAP for presentation) and found no material weaknesses or reportable single-audit findings. The auditors noted several funds had negative cash balances at year-end because reimbursements are expected; they commended county staff for timely journal posting and recommended tighter reconciliations and cross-training for grant reporting in the health department.
"For that basis of accounting, we have an unmodified opinion," Jamie Benchek said in the presentation, summarizing the auditors’ overall conclusion. The single-audit schedule showed federal expenditures for 2025 of $4,929,940 and long-term county debt of about $12.16 million at year-end, per the audit presentation.
The commission then voted unanimously to approve the audit report and authorized signing of the management representation letter.
On a separate agenda item, Taylor Mayor of Symphony Advancement presented a BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) grant proposal on behalf of St. Joseph's Catholic School. The project proposes a FEMA‑compliant, 4,500‑square‑foot community tornado shelter that would be open to the public during severe weather. Estimated cost was about $1.4 million; BRIC can fund up to 75% of the project and the school would provide the 25% local match. Taylor Mayor told the commission that Reno County would be listed on the application as the sponsoring jurisdiction but that the school would provide funds and manage long-term maintenance. Commissioners voted unanimously to be a co-applicant.
County staff said BRIC is a reimbursement-based grant and that the county's role would include providing access to the FEMA grant portal and signing reimbursements if the award occurs. No county general-fund money was pledged for the project at the June 9 meeting.
