Greenwood County gets clean audit report in time for Christmas
Greenwood County received an early Christmas present — a clean bill of financial health from its auditors.
At Tuesday’s county council meeting, Josh Garvin of Manley Garvin presented the county’s 2021 financial audit and gave an “unmodified” opinion.
“An unmodified opinion, for those who have not heard that, is a clean opinion,” he said. “That is the highest level of opinion that you can receive from your external auditors.”
Revenues exceeded spending in fiscal year 2021 by about $350,000, but the county transferred about $773,000, reducing the general fund overall about $425,000.
“You say gosh Josh, is that bad? Well, you actually budgeted to lose more money than that, so the county actually did a good job of managing and staying within budget,” he said. “That being said, it is a loss. This is the first loss that we’ve had in the five years that are presented on that report.”
But the fund balance at the end of the year contained about $10.9 million in unassigned funds. The Government Finance Officers Associations recommends having about two months of operating expenses unassigned, and Greenwood County has enough to cover six months.
“That is a strong position to be in — particularly because, as you know, this county doesn’t carry any general obligation debt or anything of that nature,” he said. “That frees you up to do things that you find it necessary to do.”
Council also voted on a package of funding requests. These funds were surplus from fiscal year 2020, which was budgeted for use in 2021. The county didn’t use all of those funds.
County Treasurer Steffanie Dorn walked council through the nine requests, which include $150,000 for airport improvements, $50,000 for work on the Larry Williams Jr. Memorial Park, $140,000 to aid with the Capital Project Sales Tax work on the Boozer Recreation Complex, $100,000 for renovations at Park Plaza along with funds to help buy a trash compactor, an ambulance and other miscellaneous projects.
One item — $5,000 to help rubberize the track of the Promised Land park — sparked some debate. Upgrades to the park are part of the Capital Project Sales Tax, and the community previously requested county funds to rubberize the track. Council denied the funding earlier in the year because the county did not own that park.
“I think it’s problematic that we, as council, add county funds to Capital Sales Tax initiatives and change output,” Council member Theo Lane said. “I feel that way not because I have any objection to that enhancement, but that those dollars are controlled by a legislative process and approved by the commissioners as presented at that time.”
Council member Mark Allison also shared concern, saying he didn’t think this package of projects advisable.
“To just take a pile of money because we got it and just start handing it out, I have a problem with that,” he said. “I think we need to put this money back because we don’t know what lies ahead. We may need this money in the days to come.”
Promised Land is in Council member Edith Childs’ district, and she asked about the funds going to other parks, but Council member Robbie Templeton pointed out that those other parks are county-owned. Council Chairperson Chuck Moates agreed with Lane and said he thought giving additional funds to the Promised Land park project sets a dangerous precedent.
After some discussion, Lane made a motion to modify the resolution to exclude the funds for Promised Land.
Council later voted on a pair of matters that will change how a few things work at the county level. They approved a preferred vendor for a new county internet and phone system. Procurement Officer Anita Baylor explained the current phone system was made in 1996 and includes 370 analog devices. The county’s phone switching equipment will no longer be supported next year, requiring a new phone system.
The new system proposed by Segra and WCTEL will provide phone service over the internet, and offer redundant internet service so that phone usage isn’t lost if the internet goes down. Council gave County Manager Toby Chappell and County Attorney Carson Penney authority to negotiate the contract.
Council also approved contracting with LaBella Associates for design and consulting work on the county landfill. Public Works Director Rob Russian said there’s need to redesign the landfill to reduce costs and increase capacity.
In other business:
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Dec 22, 2021
By DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ ddominguez@indexjournal.com