Auditors say county in ‘good shape’

The county’s finance committee met recently to hear about the 2010 audit from Matt Miller of Treadwell, Tamplin and Company.

Miller said the county is in excellent shape, with a fund balance of 85 percent at the end of 2010, more than four times the minimum 20 percent fund balance suggested by the state.

“You have quite a bit of reserve,” Miller said. “A lot of counties would be envious of this kind of fund balance.” Currently, the county has about $6.5 million in reserve before tax collections begin this fall, according to finance director Kathy Clark.

Madison County spent about $491 per person on county services in 2010, with $264 (54 percent) of that being for public safety. The state average is about $629 per person, with $232 (37 percent) of that being spent on public safety.

Miller told the group that the Madison County received an “unqualified opinion” from the firm, with the audit “free of material mistakes.”

Miller said that was quite an improvement over several years ago when the county was several years behind on their annual audits and those audits contained numerous items needing correction.

“That’s just world class of what you can expect from your finance department,” Miller said, adding that finance director Kathy Clark was to “be commended for taking the county from where it was, to where it is.”

However, Miller did note that the sheriff’s office remains non-compliant in its failure to turn over a balanced budget for seized funds. Miller explained that the sheriff is required by state law to submit a budget to the county commission regarding estimated seized funds, which are comprised of money and other goods forfeited to law enforcement from traffic, drug and other violations.

Miller said once this budget is submitted, the sheriff should obtain budget amendments from commissioners, when needed, as they are the “fiscal officers of the county.”

Auditors also listed this omission on its 2009 audit report, Miller noted.

“We have suggested that the constitutional officer (sheriff) follow the law,” Miller said. “…if we can get this corrected you would have no (non-compliance) findings.”

The sheriff’s office had about $80,000 in fines and forfeitures for 2010.

Clark said that the sheriff’s office has not submitted a budget for the seized funds so far for 2011.