Audit on Track?

Story by Lonnie Adams

Pickens County, GA – On Thursday, May 7th, 2015 the Pickens Board of Commissioners met in a called work session. Commission Chairman Robert Jones asked Ms. Faye Harvey, Finance Director for the Board of Commissioners, to update them on the current status of the 2014 Audit.This annual audit is state required to help the county become more efficient while exposing any problem areas or flaws that the county might address. However, it does not directly affect a change to the county budget or state relations.

The current status of the audit, according to Ms. Harvey has only discover two areas of issue within the county. According to unofficial results, a problem has been discovered in the solid waste control at the county landfill as receipts have not been produced for the county’s revenue coming in as people pay to dump bags. Jason Segers, CPA and Assistant Finance Director, the issue is operational only.

The second issue has arisen in the Clerk of Court’s Office with bank reconciliation paperwork. “It’s not a compliance issue,” says Ms. Harvey, “just public information.” The issues arising are mainly for the paperwork as the county wishes to have a paper trail to verify and document all sources of revenue for future inspection and reference with source documentation.

The audit is on track for completion by the end of the month, a draft will then be made of the results by June 5th and will be analyzed for any adjustments, corrections, or further investigations. Then it will be submitted for compliance before June 30th. On July 1st, the county will publicly release the results of their audit and then the Commissioners will host a public presentation of the findings at their scheduled July meeting.