Liberty County’s board of commissioners got a glowing review in their recently completed audit.

The audit, conducted by the firm Mauldin and Jenkins, was given an unmodified — also known as a “clean” — opinion on the county’s fiscal year 2025 financial statements.

The firm’s “yellow book” report, which focuses on the county’s internal controls and compliance, came back with a single finding of an overlap of duties in an elected official’s office. The finding, Kirk Arich, a director at Mauldin and Jenkins, said is common in small governments.

“In a larger entity, you’d like to see those duties broken out,” he said.

The auditors found no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in the county’s controls and compliance with federal grants, namely a $2.8 million grant for hazard mitigation. Arich also said the firm did not have any findings with county management.

“It’s a clean sweep,” he said. “It’s a great report to get.”

The audit on fiscal year 2025, which ended June 30, 2025, showed the county took in $68.1 million in revenue and spent $61.1 million. Its fund balance increased by $8.1 million, giving it the equivalent of 6.7 months of expenditures should revenues, such as property taxes, not come in.

“That’s a good place to be,” Arich said of the county’s fund balance. He further advised that any amount over four months is solid footing for a county.

Most property taxes are paid about midway through the fiscal year, so there are months when the county’s revenue stream trickles in. County chief financial officer Samantha Richardson said November is one of the county’s leanest months for revenue, but that turns around in January.

At five months into the new fiscal year, the county had taken in about 22% of its expected revenues and spent about 38% of his projected expenditures, which was below its expected 41.6%.

For November, the county had 3.2 months of expenditures in its unreserved fund balance, up from 2.3 months in November 2024.

“It’s not going to get down to zero where it was a couple of years ago,” Richardson said.

The county has been looking to replenish its fund balance after using it. General fund expenditures and revenues for FY22 were close to even, and expenditures topped revenues for FY23.

“I remember when we were pondering the millage rate and the one we chose allowed us to add to the fund balance,” Chairman Donald Lovette said. “If we have a healthy fund balance, we are able to provide our employees with the equipment they need.”

Arich also pointed to the deficit in the solid waste fund of about $1.8 million but noted there is a plan in place to address that with the new rate structure.

Arich also said there were no problems in getting information from Richardson and her department and no disagreements with management.

“Her and her team are wonderful to work with,” he said. “So hat’s off to them. They did a great job.”

The first transportation special local option sales tax, which closed in October, brought $59.8 million in its life span, and the county has spent $28.3 million on TSPLOSTbacked projects. The new TSPLOST will begin in April.