External auditor reports unmodified opinion on Athens-Clarke County FY2025 financial statements

An external auditor told the Athens-Clarke County commission on April 16 that auditors issued an unmodified opinion on the county's financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, and found no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal control.

"We've issued what we call an unmodified opinion," Washington, the external auditor, said during a work-session presentation. He described the opinion as "clean" and said, based on the testing performed, the financial statements are "accurately stated as of 06/30/2025." Washington also explained the firm's role under governmental auditing standards and that management is responsible for the financial statements.

The auditor highlighted a retroactive restatement required by implementation of GASB guidance on compensated absences, explaining the change produced a $2,900,000 increase in the county's liability for PTO and related leave. "This was a retroactive restatement," Washington said, noting the adjustment relates to how policies and leave accruals are recorded.

Washington summarized other account areas driven by estimates, including pension and OPEB obligations and landfill post-closure costs, and said auditors discussed immaterial audit adjustments with management. He presented trend charts showing the general fund's unassigned fund balance rose (from about 22% to about 25%), exceeding the county's policy minimum of 16.62 percent and generating an overall positive variance of roughly $12.3 million for FY2025 (about $7.5 million more revenue than budgeted and nearly $5 million less in expenditures).

On internal controls the auditor flagged recurring segregation-of-duty concerns in constitutional offices and the sheriff's administrative accounts, and noted timeliness-of-deposit issues in probate and juvenile court. "We noted...two voided receipts by the same person in our sample," Washington said of testing in the tax commission office, and he recommended supervisory review or segregation where practicable. He emphasized these items did not constitute material weaknesses.

Commissioners pressed about whether repeated findings had improved; the auditor said some findings repeated and that management must weigh cost-benefit tradeoffs when addressing control changes. "You really have to take into account...what is the risk of loss versus how much we're going to pay for additional personnel," Washington said.

The commission did not take formal action at the work session; the auditor said staff and auditors will follow up on recommendations and report on implementation in subsequent years. The auditor also previewed forthcoming GASB reporting changes that will affect MD&A and fund reporting, and said the audit team will outline those impacts in next year's presentation.