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WINTON – While there were no major findings within Hertford County’s FY 2023-24 audit, that annual report did contain a few budget violations.

Tim Zeng, CPA, MPA with Thompson, Price, Scott, Adams & Company, presented the audit to the Hertford County Board of Commissioners at their regularly scheduled meeting on March 17.

Zeng noted overspending in three departments: Administration ($3,767), Elections ($2,652), and Office of Aging ($44,768).

The News-Herald later learned those violations were, in order as listed in the previous paragraph, for travel for the former interim county manager; unexpected costs to cover a special election; and a grant initially covered by the county was refunded by the state and the money was placed in the wrong line item.

Other findings noted by Zeng were the submission of the audit to the State Treasurer’s office was over three months past the original due date of October 31, 2024 and that the county’s finance officer was not properly bonded during the fiscal year. The county’s finance officer position was only bonded for $100,000 when the bond should have been for $1,000,000 per state statute.

The county’s total fund balance in its General Fund stood at $15,976,670 as of June 30, 2024. That’s a little over $700,000 less than the $16,738,195 in the General Fund balance from the previous fiscal year.

Zeng noted the change in the General Fund balance at the end of FY 2023-24 was due to the county had lower revenue ($30,878,692) than expenditures ($31,607,890).

“When you don’t have enough revenue to cover your expenditures, your fund balance decreases,” Zeng said.

As shown on the audit report, Hertford County’s revenues had exceeded expenditures in each of the four previous years.

The unavailable portion of the General Fund balance for FY 2023-24 was $6,237,913, which was slightly higher than the previous year ($6,187,545).

The county’s available fund balance is 30.78 percent of its General Fund expenditures. Zeng noted that percentage far exceeds the state mandated minimum of 8 percent.

The unassigned fund balance at the close of FY 2023-24 was $2,585,447.

For FY 2023-24, the audit showed that Hertford County collected 96.68 percent of its property tax. That percentage, while below the state’s 98 percent average, is slightly higher than the county’s 96.16 percent collection rate in FY 2022-23.

As far as the county’s debt, that figure was $15,315,934 at the end of FY 2023-24. The debt has fell nearly 7 million dollars since FY 2019-20, where it stood at $22,097,318.

As is typical in every budget year, the main sources of revenue to operate Hertford County local government during FY 2023-24 were ad valorem taxes ($15,527,214) and state sales taxes ($6,673,531).

The good news in the audit report was that the county’s water and sanitation funds were on the plus side (more revenue than expenditures) for 2023-24. Both of those funds had operated at net losses for the previous two budget years.

The net position for the Water Fund balance stood at $9,654,833 as of June 30, 2024, an increase of nearly $500,000 from the previous year. The Sanitation Fund’s net position in fund balance rose from $76,409 in 2022-23 to $232,961 for FY 2023-24.

As for the budget violations, the county is required to submit a response to the Local Government Commission within 60 days of the board’s March 17 meeting.