Guilford County has received the results of its audit for the 2018-2019 fiscal year that closed out on June 30, and the auditors have found no major problems with the county’s operations or finances.
The report won’t be presented to the full Board of Commissioners until the board’s Thursday, Dec. 5 meeting, however, highlights of the report have been given to the county and were discussed at a recent meeting of the Guilford County Audit Committee, which includes several Guilford County commissioners and county staff.
The audit was overseen by Eddie Burke, a partner with the accounting firm of Cherry Bekaert LLP, which has conducted the audit of Guilford County for years and years.
A summary of the report listed positive findings including “good internal controls” on finances and operations, “clean reports” and full cooperation from Guilford County management throughout the audit process. The report also notes that auditors found “No material weaknesses” in the way the county does business.
An audit cannot look at every operation that the county undertakes but it spot checks operations, procedures and finances and digs deeper into areas where it appears there may be a problem.
The audit found that the county had investment holdings of $295 million in 2018-2019, compared with $273 million the previous fiscal year. It had a long-term bond debt of $765 million in the audit year compared with $791 million in 2017-2018. The county’s unassigned fund balance – essentially its savings account – was $78 million in 2018-2019, compared to $83 million the previous year.
