Audit OKs county's finances

Columbia County received a good report card for its books after the results of a recent annual audit showed a "clean opinion," said Leanne Deloach, the county's finance director.

"There were no errors or omission for mistakes," Deloach said.

On Tuesday, Rep E. Whiddon and Lance E. McGahee, certified public accountants for the firm Baird and Co., told members of the county's Management and Financial Services Committee that their external audit did not show any areas of concern.

"They told us that everything is good," Deloach said. "The finances are in order, everything is being accounted for.''

The county did not receive any comments or suggestions for improvement, she added.

In addition to the external audit, Todd Glover, the county's management services director, said the county is working on a new model for its internal audit that would target departments with the highest risk for an audit.

Currently, all county departments are audited at least once every three years. But under the new model, areas of high cash flow could be audited much more frequently. Glover said the idea behind the model is to ensure that fraud does not occur.