Jefferson County's independent auditors presented the calendar-year 2024 financial and federal compliance audit and reported an unmodified opinion on the county's financial statements, meaning the auditors found the statements to be materially accurate in all respects.

Auditor Brian Richardson said the audit included one federal compliance finding related to the MATP (Medical Assistance Transportation Program), a recurring finding the auditors said they are working with county staff to resolve. Richardson said the finding does not affect federal funding and that the finding has appeared in past audits.

The audit team also issued management-letter comments noting that reconciliations in some rural offices were not completed timely and that some rural-office financial information did not flow through the same internal-control structure as the rest of county funds. Richardson described those matters as common among counties and not rising to the level of a formal finding, but recommended improved reconciliations and tighter internal controls at those offices.

Richardson said there were no new accounting standards requiring adoption this year, and that the general fund maintained a healthy fund balance relative to thresholds used by rating agencies.

Why it matters: an unmodified opinion provides external assurance that the county's financial statements fairly present its fiscal position. The recurring MATP finding and internal-control recommendations point to specific operational matters county staff will need to address to reduce future audit observations.

No formal board action was recorded during the presentation; commissioners thanked the audit team for their work.