Medina County received news of an unmodified audit during the Commissioners Court meeting held last Thursday, March 26.
John Manning of Patillo, Brown & Hill, LLP, called in to the meeting to discuss the audit, which covered the fiscal year that ended on September 30, 2019.
“This is the highest level of assurance that we can offer as an outside accounting firm,” Manning said. “It means that we did not have to modify this report for things that the county was not keeping track of, or cannot ascertain if they’re correct or not.”
The county’s general fund increased by around $1.8 million to a total of $11.1 million, which is over five months of reserve, well above the recommended minimum of three-and-a-half to four months.
“So y’all are in excess of that, and especially in light of what’s going on right now, I’m never going to tell people that they have too much fund balance,” Manning said. “So I applaud the fact that you guys have a reserve that if something out of the ordinary happens, you do have some capacity to deal with at least part of something catastrophic.”
Debt service improve from a deficit to a positive.
“Through the efforts of the [commissioners] court, that number is now positive, which is really good,” Manning said. “And I anticipate that number to be higher at the end of fiscal year 2020.”
Manning pointed out that the county’s net position was positive.
“What net position is, is if you liquidated all of your assets and paid all of your liabilities, what’s left,” Manning explained. “So the fact that these things are positive means you have more assets than liabilities, which from a financial perspective looks very good.”
Because the county spends over $750,000 in federal funds each year, the audit has to comply with government auditing standards and test major programs under uniform guidance. Manning said there were no significant deficiencies or material weaknesses to report in the WIC supplemental nutrition program or hazard mitigation grant.
Manning added that fraud interviews were conducted with random employees, none of whom reported any suspected fraud.
“This county has financial stability,” Manning said. “Fund balance got a little low there several years ago, but it’s back up to a healthy level.”
By Marly Davis
Staff Writer