County staff reports 'final draft' audit; unassigned general fund balance ~$21.87M

County finance staff presented a "final draft" of the FY25 audit and described next steps to finalize the report. The finance presenter said the county received an unmodified opinion and that auditors and staff had worked through several classification and reporting questions.

"We received an unmodified opinion," the presenter said, noting that an audit finding emerged related to inconsistent reporting of bank balances to the state treasurer portal and that staff expects the issue to reappear on the FY26 audit until process changes are implemented. He said staff has engaged in remedial steps with the treasurer's office and will set quarterly reminders to ensure consistent portal reporting.

Staff also highlighted that a previously-identified school-related finding had been remedied and that an LIGP account had been recategorized from a long-term investment to short-term money after auditor review. The presenter provided a snapshot of the general fund: "As of 06/30/2021, the unassigned fund balance is 21,867,000," and said staffing improvements and a new comptroller will support timely FY26 audit work.

The board requested the audit committee receive a copy of the draft prior to its next meeting and asked staff to circulate the draft to committee members. Staff said auditors will be on-site next week to begin the FY26 audit and committed to better internal processes and training to avoid repeat findings.

Action: informational presentation; staff to circulate draft to audit committee and pursue corrective steps for the bank-reporting process.