County auditor issues clean opinion but warns of recurring control weakness; sanitary district runs operating loss

Robinson Farmer Cox Associates partner Michael Lupton presented Amelia Countys financial-audit results for the year ended June 30, 2024, telling supervisors the firm issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the countyfinancial statements while also reporting a significant deficiency in internal control.

"We rendered an unmodified opinion on the financial statements," Lupton said, explaining that auditors obtained sufficient evidence to support the financial statements. He walked supervisors through key figures: governmental-fund assets of just under $25 million, about $18 million in cash and cash equivalents, general-fund revenues of roughly $28.1 million and expenditures of about $24.7 million, which produced a revenues-over-expenditures surplus of roughly $3.4 million and an ending general-fund balance reported near $9.6 million.

Lupton told the board the audit identified a significant deficiency that mirrors an issue from the prior year: auditors were required to propose material adjustments during the audit process to present the financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. "If there are material adjustments that we are required to propose as part of the audit process ... that is a red flag," he said.

Lupton also highlighted the sanitary district's proprietary fund results, reporting operating revenues of about $624,000 against operating expenses of about $869,000 and noting that depreciation of roughly $207,000 is a noncash charge but the fund still shows an operating loss.

On federal compliance, auditors performed a single audit of three programs (public-safety grants, the remainder of the ARPA fiscal-recovery funds, and the special-education cluster) and reported no compliance findings for those programs.

Supervisors asked follow-up questions about the deficiency and internal controls; Lupton said management is responsible for controls and that the audit team will continue to work with county staff to improve reporting.