Auditor issues clean opinion; Rice County told reserves are roughly five months

Auditors from CLA told the Rice County Board of Commissioners on July 28 that they issued a clean opinion on the county's 2025 financial statements and found no reportable disagreements with management or difficulties performing the audit.

"We issued a clean opinion," auditor Doug Hoss said, adding that auditors had no significant deficiencies to report for the last three years. Hoss told the board the county ended 2025 with about five months of fund balance available to cover next year's expenditures — roughly at the lower bound of recommendations — and that total county revenues were up about $2,000,000 (roughly 2 percent) compared with 2024.

Hoss said total expenditures fell by about $8.1 million (about 8 percent), primarily because 2024 included large capital outlays tied to construction of the public service center. He also described rising non-cash landfill-related liabilities booked to the county's enterprise fund: an engineer’s estimate of remaining landfill capacity (about $900,000) and cell-construction charges (about $1,100,000), which reduced net position in proprietary funds.

Commissioners pressed Hoss on the landfill figures and on how enterprise purchases are reflected in the financial statements. Hoss said some increases are paper (actuarial/engineer estimates required for closure and post-closure) while other costs reflected work to prepare new landfill cells. He recommended that board members factor the trending reserve levels into 2027 budget planning.

The auditor also noted the county submitted its annual comprehensive financial report on time and previously received a Government Finance Officers Association award for its 2024 financial statements; award notification for 2025 is pending.