SNOW HILL – Outside auditors gave Worcester County a clean opinion on financial statements for the fiscal year that ended in June of 2019.
On Tuesday, Chris Hall of TGM Group presented the Worcester County Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) to the county commissioners. He said the county had again received an unmodified opinion.
“That’s the highest level of assurance that any independent accounting firm can give on a set of financial statements,” he said.
Hall said the 175-page report was the most important financial document the county prepared. It outlines the revenues and expenditures of the year and also includes information about capital projects and comparison data from years past. Hall praised county staff’s work in developing the annual budget. He pointed out that the county budgeted $176,704,171 in expenditures in fiscal year 2019. It actually spent $179,498,184.
“That variance really relates to additional money we put into other post employment benefits (OPEB) funds,” Hall said. “It was planned for … If you back that out you’re within $50,000 on a $177 million expenditure budget. Pretty darn good.”
The entire financial report, and those of previous years, can be viewed on the county’s website. Hall said the document was broken into the opinion from his firm, a management discussion and analysis written by county staff, and then the financial figures themselves. The end of the report includes statistical information from years past.
“It’s a very useful tool,” he said.
Hall went on to thank staff for their work during the audit process, which takes months.
“I think I speak for the rest of the commissioners in saying we couldn’t be more proud of our staff and the job they do,” Commissioner Joe Mitrecic said.
The commissioners also congratulated staff on Tuesday for the county’s 11th consecutive recognition from the Government Finance Officers Association. The county received the “Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting” for its CAFR for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2018.
