Durham County audit: unmodified opinion; auditors note control deficiencies

Durham County Commissioners heard the presentation of the county’s FY2024 audit, during which the audit team said it issued an unmodified opinion on the county’s financial statements. Scott Anderson, the audit presenter, told the board the audit was completed and the report issued on April 16.

"We issued an unmodified opinion on those financial statements and unmodified opinion is the highest level of assurance that we can provide," Anderson said. He summarized that the audit was performed following generally accepted auditing standards and the Government Accountability Office’s Yellow Book.

Anderson said the audit team identified audit adjustments that led to reporting of a control deficiency; however, auditors did not find any related‑party transactions that had not been disclosed to them. He also said the only nonattest service provided by the firm was assistance completing the federal data collection form used for grant reporting.

A board member noted a statutory requirement that the audit be presented to the full board and mentioned a roughly 45‑day window for submission to the state/local oversight body. The board thanked the auditors and county finance staff. No board action was taken during the meeting on the audit; the presentation fulfilled the reporting requirement and the audit record will remain available to the board for follow up or questions.