Auditors give Chambers County a clean opinion but flag accounting correction on justice center funds

The Chambers County Commissioners Court heard a presentation of the county's audited financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2025, and the accompanying single audit on federal expenditures. Cameron Aaron of Patilla Brown & Hill told the court the firm issued a clean opinion on the financial statements and that users can rely on the reports in all material respects.

Aaron said the county spent about $6.5 million in federal awards during 2025, triggering a single audit. The largest federal programs cited on the schedule were the Community Development Block Grant (approximately $2.5 million) and another program shown at about $1.6 million; the auditor reported no findings on federal‑program compliance in material respects.

The auditors did report one material correction in the reporting of amounts connected to the Chambers County Justice Center public‑private partnership. Aaron explained the county had funds in escrow during FY2024 that were passed to a third party in the P3 structure and therefore should not have been reported as county cash balances; the presentation described corrections to remove those cash balances and to recognize the right‑to‑use asset and receivable flows associated with the financing arrangement.

County staff and commissioners praised the finance team and noted the Government Finance Officers Association award the county had received for fiscal 2024; Aaron said the county had also submitted paperwork to pursue that award for 2025. Commissioners had no further questions and approved accepting the audited reports as presented.

Next steps: staff will finalize report transmittals and distribute the auditor's required communication letter to the court and interested parties.