The Bradford County Board of County Commissioners accepted the county’s fiscal-year audit on Nov. 18 following a presentation by James Moore & Company.

Farrah Rajaid, senior manager for James Moore & Company, outlined three reports included with the financial statements: the audit report (financial statements), the federal/state single-audit report, and an internal-controls and compliance report. Rajaid said the firm issued a qualified opinion, the same classification as the prior year, and reported no instances of noncompliance for grant expenditures that met the single-audit threshold. She said the sheriff’s office remediated one recommendation from the prior year and had three recommendations remaining.

Rajaid told commissioners that ARPA funds and the public-library roll-in increased the county’s beginning fund balance by about $5,000,000. She noted the county’s combined assigned and unassigned reserve percentage was 74.1% for the year under review, compared with 51.5% the prior year; she said that, without the ARPA and library roll-ins, an adjusted comparison would show roughly 58.9%.

The presentation also referenced a prior sheriff deficit fund balance (about $130,000) that improved to approximately $68,000 in FY24 and confirmed Bradford County participates in the Florida Retirement System with contributions current for the reporting year.

Commissioner Thompson moved to accept the audit report as read; Commissioner Andrews seconded. The board voted to accept the audit (transcript shows a 4-0 result). The board directed staff and relevant officers to follow up on outstanding audit recommendations as described in the audit report.