Audit shows Blair County finished 2019 with surplus
HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County’s ended 2019 in the black, when general fund revenue exceeded expenditures by $840,188, its latest annual audit shows.
“That’s positive … and that’s not always the case,” auditor Dave Scott of Young, Oakes, Brown & Co. advised county commissioners Tuesday at their weekly meeting held by telephone and videoconferencing.
The report also included two findings — a marked improvement over the typical 40 to 50 findings in prior years.
One of the two findings is to be addressed through procedural changes, county leaders said. The other reflects the county’s difficulty with meeting a recommended annual contribution to its underfunded pension plan.
Commissioners Chairman Bruce Erb said he recalled feeling “challenged” during his first year on the commissioners board when a review of the 2015 audit showed 44 findings.
Erb described the Munis accounting system as “crucial in addressing our audit findings” and credited Controller A.C. Stickel and Deputy Controller Angela Wagner for their efforts. Stickel recommended the Munis purchase in December 2016 at almost $473,000 plus training costs. Erb and former commissioners Terry Tomassetti and Ted Beam Jr. approved the purchase with money allocated in the county’s 2017 bond issue borrowing.
Scott also praised county’s personnel, including department heads, for their assistance, which he said went “fairly well” and allowed his firm to finish the audit in a timely fashion.
“I think everybody should be commended,” Scott said.
More than a year ago, Scott was advising commissioners that his firm needed more time to complete the audit because it lacked sufficient records.
At that time, the treasurer’s office reported balanced financial records, based on prior procedures, but the records differed from financial reports generated by the Munis system in the controller’s office. Accounts had to be reconciled before being rendered to Scott’s firm, which finished the 2018 annual audit closed to the end of June.
The 2019 audit Scott reviewed Tuesday reported the county’s pension fund liability at $76.6 million. The shortfall had been to $74.8 million, as reported in June 2018, after hitting a high of $89 million the year before.
Commissioners, who make up the majority of the county retirement board that manages the pension fund, have taken steps toward controlling future liabilities. For 2020, they’ve set aside $4.5 million in general fund revenue for the pension fund. That’s $300,000 more than last year but short of the more than $6 million recommended amount.
Scott mentioned during his report on the audit that with the stock market’s recent decline, the county could expect its annual recommended contribution to increase.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.