Auditor gives De Soto Parish a clean opinion but flags federal-compliance gaps

De Soto Parish — An independent audit summarized Tuesday that the parish’s fiscal year 2025 financial statements received a clean opinion, but auditors identified two compliance findings involving federal programs.

Auditor Mr. Ryan told jurors total assets rose to $166 million and the parish’s net position stood at about $150 million at Dec. 31, 2025. He said total revenues were roughly $47 million for the fiscal year and total expenses about $36.3 million.

Despite the clean opinion on the financials, the audit report included two findings in the compliance supplement. The first finding concerned weatherization-program paperwork and internal controls for the federal program. The second finding involved the HUD program: auditors found documentation of annual Housing Quality Standard inspections missing in roughly 30% of the sampled files, meaning the inspections may have occurred but the supporting paperwork was not in the files.

Mr. Ryan cautioned the jury that auditing provides reasonable—not absolute—assurance and relies on sampling and materiality thresholds. He said the audit work included a review of agreed-upon procedures and noted one minor bank-reconciliation exception that has been addressed.

Jurors accepted the financial statements for the period ending May 31, 2026 in a separate motion; the Treasurer reported fund balances and noted sales-tax receipts for the road fund were up 19% compared with the prior period (staff attributed the increase primarily to activity in the oil industry).

The auditor and staff stated they are working with departments to address the compliance exceptions and to improve documentation so federal program requirements are fully met. The jury recorded acceptance of the audit materials and the financial statements by roll call.