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The Buckingham County audit will be delayed this year. Kristen Choate, from the firm of Robinson, Farmer and Cox spoke with county supervisors during their Monday, Sept. 9 meeting, explaining that the problem can be traced back to the fact Buckingham County no longer has a finance director. 

Kevin Hickman resigned from that position back in January and the county has been unable to fill the spot. County staff has been clear the position was not eliminated. They just can’t find someone for the job. And as a result, Choate said, some of the work needed for the audit just wasn’t completed. 

“This year, we did not get the adjusted balance until July,” Choate said. “We started our work last fall, as we were completing the prior year’s audit. But with the turnover in the finance position, there were some things left undone that should have been done during the year by the finance folks.” 

Supervisor Cameron Gilliam asked about the data the firm received in July. 

“What time is that supposed to be turned in?” 

Generally, it should have been given to the firm last fall, Choate said. But since there is no finance director for the county, that burden has fallen on existing staff, pushing things back. 

“Without the finance director position, Karl’s kind of wearing both hats right now and if something were to happen to Karl, that would leave a great void with finance,” Choate said. “I know it’s difficult to hire staff right now, especially accounting professionals but that is an important one to focus on.”  

Choate said also there are new state and federal standards for county audits, so it’s not just a case of receiving the data on time. Now they have to go through and provide additional documentation. 

What’s been completed with Buckingham County

So what work has been done? Choate said the firm has finished its compliance work. They also audited the county’s ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds this year and some school funds as well. 

Choate also pointed out that at first glance, Buckingham County will show an increase of about $2 million in cash for Fiscal Year 2023, but that’s mainly due to the ARPA funds given from the federal government. The second round of those funds added up to about $1.6 million. 

Gilliam said the county appreciated the work, but asked when this year’s audit might be complete. 

“It’s very important to me, as a supervisor representing my district, to be able to make some decisions that we have coming up forward about how we’re gonna spend our money and how the county is (financially),” Gilliam said. 

One example of what’s waiting on the audit report is the discussion of using reserve funds to pay for 24/7 emergency medical services coverage at Arvonia. Earlier this year, supervisors had talked about setting a reserve aside, but waiting to do that until the audit came back and they had a better idea of the county’s financial footing. The same was discussed for Buckingham schools, setting up a reserve. But both concepts are on hold until the audit comes in. 

Choate said her firm would have the report complete before supervisors’ next meeting in October. As for next year’s audit, she said now that the county has caught up, they’re going to get a jump on next year’s version by starting work in October.