FLAGLER COUNTY — Amid Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia’s claims of an “excessive” and “wasteful” budget over the past six years, Flagler County’s finances showed no deficiencies in the last fiscal year, according to auditors.
The county’s general fund balance increased to $73 million (up $14 million from the previous year), according to James Moore & Co. – the accounting firm hired to audit last year’s budget. The increase comes from a growth in unassigned reserves of almost $68 million.
That number represents approximately 43% of the fiscal year’s expenditures, which totaled $162 million. The figure is well above the 16.7% (or two months) minimum recommended by the Government Finance Officers Association.
“Overall, (the county is) at a healthy level from a reserve perspective,” said James Moore accountant Zach Chalifour during a presentation to the Board of County Commissioners June 8.
Other government funds – which include resources like capital projects, grants and funds outside the general fund – amounted to $85.4 million.
Those funds are “restricted,” which means they have been specifically dedicated to a variety of projects and other expenditures.
The county’s audit found “no instances … of restricted/committed funds not used for (their) required purpose,” according to Chalifour.
Flagler County chair: Audit founds county’s reserves at ‘normal’ range
Commissioner Andy Dance asked Chalifour about the state of the county’s reserve balance.
The auditor explained that the GFOA’s recommendation is that local governments maintain an unrestricted fund balance of no less than two months of regular general fund operating revenues, or the 16.7% of the year’s expenditures.
But because of different individual needs, holding on too much more than the minimum depends on the local government’s wants and policies.
“A lot of it comes down to risk tolerance,” Chalifour said, adding that the yearly threat of disaster relief costs justifies the county’s “healthy” reserves.
“As long as we are consistent in policy direction to administration with regards to making sure we are covered,” Dance said.
The county’s policy goal is to have the equivalent of three months, according to Chair Leann Pennington.
Pennington said during her one-on-one discussions with Chalifour, he explained that when governments get to “five, six, seven months, that you really need to be very clear on your policy and why you’re holding that much.”
“Otherwise, we are in a very normal range for reserves,” Pennington said. “And we saw that with the beach. We know we need reserves for grants.”
Flagler commissioners want to publish ‘favorable’ audit results
Dance called the results “a very clean audit,” with some of the commissioners voicing their agreement
Commissioner Kim Carney asked, and the board agreed, to make the full audit document available on the county’s Transparency Dashboard webpage.
“There are some very favorable results here that we need to publish,” Carney said.
The county is also working on a webpage to explain its increased reserves and outstanding debt payment over the past six year, in an effort to clarify the CFO’s claims.
The commissioners also talked about the upcoming “constitutional” budget projections, which include the office of the county clerk, property appraiser, tax collector, supervisor of elections and the sheriff’s office.
The total of $69 million between all five represents a nearly $5-million increase from the last fiscal year.
The budget numbers aren’t yet final, as the board prepares for its general fund budget workshop June 15, with a tentative property tax rate adoption date set for July.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Internal audit finds Flagler County finances in ‘healthy’ condition
Reporting by Brenno Carillo, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Brenno Carillo, Daytona Beach News-Journal | USA TODAY Network
