At its June 20 meeting, the Gila County Board of Supervisors adopted a provisional budget of approximately $151.62 million for fiscal 2023-2024, with a major property tax rate of $4.19 per $100 of assessed value. rice field.

However, before embarking on that budget, the board was presented with the results of three audits for fiscal year 2022, two of which included nine findings. State Audit General Melanie Chesney reported an uncorrected or clean opinion on the county’s financial statements in the first audit. This means that county financial statements are reliable. Her fellow presenters then took note of the findings.

Five of those were involved in internal control and compliance audits of financial statements, said Donald Borhart of the Audit and Supervisory Board. It was found that the county had issued economic development funds without requiring documentation that the funds were used for public benefit. Did not ensure that the purchase card was used for its legitimate purpose. Since 2009, we have not taken a physical inventory of our machinery and equipment. IT risk management and documentation processes were flawed, and IT systems and data were poorly managed. Bohart said similar findings have been reported since fiscal year 2017, that is, for machine inventories in 2013. The county noted that it has improved the process for awarding the Economic Development Fund by ensuring that the commission evaluates and approves applications for awards. Board meetings are held in public.

The Directorate General of Audit and Audit has recommended to counties to further improve their economic development award policies and procedures, including pre- and post-award award procedures. Bohart added that the county plans to make these changes by December 2023. Other recommendations included counties updating purchasing card policies and procedures. Create a complete inventory of capital assets and reconcile the results with county records. Allocate resources to implement critical IT system controls and perform annual IT risk assessments. We also develop comprehensive written IT policies and procedures to restrict system access, control system configurations and changes, and protect systems and data. Chesney said that as technology continues to evolve, IT issues are one of the more common findings he said.

Bohart reported that the county plans to fix deficiencies in the purchasing card system and adjust capital assets by June 30, 2023 (inventory completed in May).

The remaining four findings were obtained in a single federal compliance audit. All federal programs for which the county filed a single audit report on June 30, 2022 was two months late and was unable to verify and document the existence of multiple sources of information regarding the contract. Failure to review and approve the report prior to submission and failure to prepare and submit in a timely manner. Provide accurate information to federal funding agencies. The county treasurer was encouraged to allocate additional resources to meet deadlines and improve the financial reporting process. Require the county to require public works and procurement officers to follow county policies for determining and documenting sole sourcing. Department of Finance and county administrators to develop policies and procedures for conducting and documenting independent reviews of federal program reports. Presenter Daniel Hunt said the county plans to make these adjustments by the end of June.

“It’s kind of a public butt slapping, but before we took office, Gila County was seven years behind on state audits, so I’m proud of something like this.” Superintendent Tim Humphrey said at the end of the presentation. “We will continue to strive to stay up-to-date with audit information.”

Superintendent Steve Christensen said the county “has done tremendously in terms of reducing the volume of findings.” I think the number 9 is probably a good number as we will continue to improve. “

“We’ve seen definite improvement and more interest in solving existing problems,” Chesney said.

Turning to the interim budget for 2023-2024, the Board has set the major property tax rate at $4.19, a rate it has maintained since 2010. County Treasurer Merrin Belling told the board that the budget of about $151.62 million is about $27 million higher than the budget. last year’s. The top three expected sources of funding for 2023-2024 are special funding (27%), major property tax levies (25%) and subsidies (17%). In terms of planned expenditures, the top three are general revenue (42%), subsidies (22%) and capital (14%). Among general funds, the highest expenditures are public safety (31%), general government (22%) and courts/criminal defense (20%).

New budget items for 2024 include $2.78 million in the federal budget requested. $3.4 million for the American Rescue Plans Act project. This includes $325,000 for restrooms at the Gila County Fairgrounds. $11.6 million for infrastructure projects such as roadworks, Tonto Creek Bridge and expansion of the Russell Gulch landfill. Additional capital is required, including public safety and vehicle replacement plans.

The Board will uncover the truth at tax hearings and move toward adoption of the final budget on July 18, 2023.