Lee County audit returns clean opinions; one circuit-clerk finding, no single-audit required

Josh Favor, a senior manager with Blue plea, presented Lee County’s annual audit to the board, saying the county’s main financial statements and government-auditing-standards opinion received “good clean unmodified opinions.”

Favor told the board the audit produced four reports, including the county’s independent audit and a separate audit of the circuit clerk. He said the circuit-clerk audit included one finding: two fees in the sample were not properly assessed. “It’s not uncommon,” Favor said, describing such items as typically the result of isolated errors in fee assessment.

The auditor reported the county expended $721,000 in federal funds in fiscal year 2025, beneath this year’s single-audit threshold of $1,000,000; as a result, a federal single-audit was not required. Favor also noted $45,000 in remaining ARPA funds as of Nov. 30.

Favor described accounting-standard changes implemented this year (GASB statements referenced during the presentation) that produced a one-time restatement: the county’s beginning net position was reduced by about $593,000 because of the new sick‑time accrual guidance, and a fund‑classification change restated beginning fund balance by roughly $73,000. He said the county paid about $678,000 on principal during the year and that pension funding is strong — the regular IMRF plan was about 100% funded and the sheriff’s plan about 90%.

Board members asked the auditor to compare the county to peers. Favor said Lee County rates near the top of the counties his firm audits — roughly a B+ to A‑ minus — and recommended continued focus on expanding the tax base and requiring clearer return‑on‑investment measures for large technology and personnel expenditures.

The board accepted the auditor’s letter of communication by voice vote and thanked Favor for the presentation. Favor left the meeting after the audit segment.

The board will keep the auditor’s findings on file and monitor staff follow‑up on the circuit‑clerk finding and the accounting changes noted during the presentation.