Liberty County’s government got a clean report from its auditors. The accounting firm Mauldin and Jenkins gave no material findings in its inspection of the county’s books and found no material weaknesses. Trey Scott said the firm presented the county with a clean and unmodified opinion.
“That’s what you’re looking for,” he said.
Scott also said the county’s finance department goes above and beyond its required reporting. The county finance department will get the GFOA Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting for the 22nd time.
“That’s something they should be commended for,” Scott said.
Scott said their one finding was for a segregation of duties in an elected officer’s department, but he acknowledged that isn’t always easy in a smaller county.
The county’s financial position is also strong, having brought in $105 million in revenue and spent $89 million for fiscal year 2024 across all the funds.
Scott said an audit is not designed to show how healthy a county is but there are metrics to look at that can serve as indicators.
“One of the things I like to look at is are we reinvesting,” he said. “The county, especially over the course of the last six years, has done a really good job of reinvesting in its capital base.”
The county’s fund balance increased by $1.4 million and there is about $22.3 million in unassigned, unreserved fund balance, giving the county about 4.9 months of expenditures it can over without any other revenue coming in. GFOA standards, Scott said, are to have three to six months on hand.
County revenues and expenditures have grown over the last six year. Revenues have increased from just under $30 million to nearly $60 million, and expenditures have gone from just over $25 million a year to more than $50 million.
The solid waste fund is reporting a deficit of $1 million.
“Typically, business type funds should be self-supporting,” Scott said. “That was the case in 2018, 19 and 20. If there was one thing I would say to keep an eye on, it’s to keep chipping away at that deficit.”
Scott also said there were no difficulties in dealing and no disagreements with management. Scott said county CFO Samantha Richardson “does a great job of getting what we need when we need it.”
County engineer Trent Long also told commissioners that the traffic on Islands Highway at the site of the box culvert work will be moved to the other side. Long added the variable message board has been going in and out but the lights have been working.
The $1.76 million project is now slated for a mid-April finish.
Long also told commissioners work at the Miller Park Pavilion is almost complete, and the contractor has asked for another 30 days because of weather and materials delays. Long said a pre-construction meeting with RL Construction, which is doing the Miller Park Pavilion work, on the Jones Creek Recreation Pavilion, will be held soon. Long is targeting a start date of March 4 for the $818,000 project.