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External auditors expect clean opinion but report $6.2M misclassification tied to solar projects
Summary
Auditors told the Audit Committee they expect to issue unmodified (clean) opinions on Buncombe County’s financial statements but reported a material weakness: roughly $6,200,000 of solar-related capital assets had been carried on county books though they belong to local school systems.
The Audit Committee heard from the county’s external engagement partner, Tim Lyons, who said auditors are substantively finished with testing and expect to issue unmodified opinions on the county’s financial statements once final QC is complete.
"We had an issue ... included roughly $6,200,000 of capital assets that did not belong to the county," Lyons said, describing an adjustment to the county’s beginning net position tied to solar-panel projects. Lyons said the county brought the issue to the auditors’ attention during the current-year work.
Lyons explained that the adjustment triggered a material‑weakness classification under government auditing standards because it altered a previously reported amount in earlier financial statements. County staff (Glenn) confirmed the solar installations were built at locations where operational responsibility lies with Buncombe County Schools or Asheville City Schools and that the county will remove those assets from its capital-asset balances.
Committee members asked how controls will change to prevent similar errors. Lyons said corrective action language will appear in the final ACFR and that auditors expect management’s corrective-action plan will be included in the report. The committee voted to recommend that the board accept the audit based on the presentation and with the expectation that staff will present the final report to the full board in January, pending no substantive changes.
