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Auditor: Vernon County’s 2023 financials earn clean opinion but show control findings
Summary
Kerber Rose issued an unmodified opinion on Vernon County's 2023 financial statements but reported four internal-control findings, including that the auditor prepares the financial statements, material account adjustments, segregation of duties, and an ARPA reporting finding; the county's general fund outperformed budget expectations.
Kerber Rose partner Greg Pitel presented Vernon County’s 2023 audit at the Oct. 17 board meeting, saying the firm issued an "unmodified clean audit opinion of the financial statements" while identifying four internal-control findings the county should address.
Pitel explained two findings relate to the fact that the auditor prepares the financial statements and the schedule of expenditures of state awards, a third finding involves material account adjustments, and the fourth concerns segregation of duties. He also noted there will be a separate reporting finding related to ARPA reporting. Pitel presented comparative analyses showing the final adopted budget anticipated a $380,000 decrease in fund balance, while the county’s actual fund balance increased by $2,446,000 compared with the final adopted budget.
Pitel recommended the finance team continue to improve processes over the next couple of years, and board members and staff discussed options for addressing segregation-of-duties issues as the county completes rebuilding its finance team. The GenGov committee and department heads later reported no finance director was selected and Administrative Coordinator Cassandra Hanan will continue as interim finance director through January when hiring resumes.
