A newly released financial report for Whitman County noted funding classification errors and missing federal policy language, but found no issues state auditors considered “significant or material.”
The 2018 financial statements and federal spending audit, released Monday, did not list any findings or deficiencies. Regional audit manager Alisha Shaw told county officials in an exit conference last week her team had identified some “less significant” issues for improvement.
“Those are housekeeping items,” she said.
Shaw explained the county had misclassified funds considered as either reserved or unreserved. Reserved fund balances include specific restrictions on spending while unreserved funds do not. She noted those classifications did not alter final amounts.
“It’s the difference between two line items,” she said. “We have no issues with the ending cash investments. That in total was correct.”
The report also cited a nearly $200,000 discrepancy between the auditor’s expected total ending cash/investments and the actual cash/investments listed in county financial statements. Shaw said officials were reviewing their various accounts to reconcile their ending cash totals.
Assistant audit manager Molly Mors told local officials federal rules also required the county to adopt their own policies on procurement procedures and requirements instead of using state guidelines. The requirement had gone into effect about three years ago and could escalate to an audit finding if not addressed.
County officials said they had already started looking at draft language to adopt the necessary policies.
The 55-page audit does not list the account inconsistencies. Auditors noted those items in a separate management letter that is not typically published, but is available by public records request. (Update, Sept. 25: Here’s a copy of the letter.)
The audit report outlines detailed spending for county operations and federal funding. It also lists an ongoing 2016 lawsuit against the sheriff’s department as a potential financial liability and notes the recent end of the county’s commitment to the Hawkins development from 2008.
The report states the latest audit cost $40,000 to conduct.
A previous accountability audit from April outlined some shortcomings in county documentation of credit and fuel card purchases. Read our previous coverage here and see the report here.
The State Auditor’s Office continues to investigate a separate matter of potential fraud that arose during that audit.