Special to the Times Vedette
Auditor of State Rob Sand today released an audit report on Guthrie County, which noted that the County’s revenues totaled $22,279,795 for the year ended June 30, 2025, a 2.6% increase. He also noted that expenses for County operations for the year ended June 30, 2025 totaled $21,973,620, a 16.5% increase. The minimal increase in revenues, he stated, is mainly due to an increase in property tax revenue resulting from increased valuations, partially offset by a decrease in levy rate. The significant increase in expenses, he said, is due primarily to Secondary Roads Department inventory costs compared to last year, County Environment building repairs, and the Public Health Admin building remodel.
Sand reported 18 findings related to the receipt and expenditure of taxpayer funds. They are found on pages 85 through 96 of the report. The findings address issues such as lack of segregation of duties, material amounts of accounts receivable, accounts payable and infrastructure and capital asset additions, and prepaid expenses not properly recorded in the County’s financial statements. Sand provided the County with recommendations to address each of these findings.
Sand noted that 14 of the findings discussed above are repeated from the prior year. He stated in his letter to the media that “the County Board of Supervisors and elected officials have a fiduciary responsibility to provide oversight of the County’s operations and financial transactions. Oversight is typically defined as the ‘watchful and responsible care’ a governing body exercises in its fiduciary capacity.”
A copy of the audit report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s website at Audit Reports – Auditor of State.