Floyd County receives clean audit report
By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com
Floyd County received an unmodified or “clean” opinion on its annual audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, with no significant deficiencies reported, according to a presentation recently at a Board of Supervisors meeting.
Elizabeth Thyer, CPA and partner with Gardiner + Co., presented the findings, saying that the audit, which examines county finances, accounting procedures and internal controls, showed the county remains in strong financial condition overall.
The county’s net position (assets minus liabilities) increased by about $3.65 million, or 7.1%, over the previous year, reaching $55.1 million. Most of those assets are land, infrastructure, buildings and equipment.
Revenues grew to $21.6 million, up about $588,000 from the previous year, while expenditures increased by $1.1 million to nearly $17.9 million. Road and bridge work accounted for much of the spending increase.
Overall property tax rates for 2024 went down 8.9% for urban and went down 6.3% for rural. The effect of the changes in valuations, tax rates, state rollbacks, uncollected taxes, exemptions and credits to taxpayers caused a 5.47% decrease in overall property tax-related revenue collected for fiscal year 2024, the audit says.
Major financial activity during the year included issuing $4.8 million in general obligation bonds to help fund a new countywide emergency communication system, and continuing work on the new law enforcement center and courthouse upgrades, largely funded by bond proceeds and federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars.
The county’s debt increased to about $19.6 million, well below its legal debt limit of $77.3 million.
While Thyer noted no material weaknesses or significant compliance issues, the audit includes routine recommendations. That includes segregation of duties so no one person handles transactions from start to finish, but also recognizes that is not possible with the size of staff county offices have.
Such a segregation of duties notice is typical on audit reports for all but the largest Iowa city and county governments.
The audit also noted a few times where accounts needed to be timely reconciled.
Thyer stressed that the audit does not look at every county transaction, but examines samples from the various funds and accounts.
The audit also noted the impact of new state laws that cap property tax growth, which county officials said may require future adjustments in budgeting and operations.
The full audit report is available through the county auditor’s office or the Iowa Secretary of State Office.
Social Share