COLUMBUS COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) – After some questions earlier this year about the status of Columbus County’s finances, commissioners tonight heard the results of the past year’s audit.
Columbus County received a clean audit report. Back in June, they approved a nearly eighty-two million dollar budget for the 2022 year, which was five percent above last year’s budget. There was some concern that they wouldn’t be able to fund everything they approved.
“Even though the budget was adopted, it didn’t mean the funds were available for spending,” said County Manager Eddie Madden. “Throughout the year we would be reevaluating to see if we needed to make any reductions in spending so we would end the year in a positive position. And we did that.”
Last year’s report showed three significant discrepancies in their finances, including oversights in the fund balance and issues with the Medicaid Assistance Program. All were repeat issues from 2019.
“We’re making improvements in the audit. Last year’s audit was not so good. This year we’re making progress. We ended the end of the year with a positive cash flow, and overall things are improving in the finance office,” said Madden.
Even with three ongoing school projects in the works in Columbus County, the auditor said they are still well above the state’s minimum requirement for available funds.
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