Auditors give Troup County a clean FY2025 opinion; fund balance and capital assets highlighted

Meredith Lipson, partner with Malden & Jenkins, presented the FY2025 audit summary and said the firm issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the county's financial statements. Lipson gave an overview of key figures: the county reported approximately $262,900,000 in assets, $52,900,000 in liabilities and about $210,000,000 in net position as of June 30, 2025; capital assets were roughly $154,000,000 and unrestricted net position approximately $16,500,000.

Lipson said property taxes were the county's largest general‑fund revenue ($38,560,000 in FY25) and public safety was the single largest expenditure function ($28,600,000). She told the commission the general fund balance increased by just under $6,000,000 for the year and that the fund balance at year‑end covered about eight months of expenditures. The auditors reported no misstatements and said audit adjustments were typical; they also performed single‑audit testing of federal programs including ARPA and found no issues in the areas tested.

Commissioners asked questions about reconciliation and segregation of duties; Lipson recommended strengthening certain internal controls where feasible but noted the county's finance team had been cooperative and responsive throughout the audit. The auditor offered to provide audit adjustments and additional detail on request; the commission indicated it would acknowledge the audit at tonight's session.