Garfield County earns clean audit review

Independent auditor McMahan and Associates commends staff on financial reporting

PRESS RELEASE
August 11, 2021

GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – Garfield County has again earned a strong financial review from an independent auditor, which found that the county’s financial recording was conducted with the highest standards. McMahan and Associates, LLC, reported that Garfield County had no violations or conflicts associated in its 2020 comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR).

Garfield County Finance Director Theresa Wagenman applauded the county’s effort to ensure accurate accounting in all matters.

“I want to say thanks to all the departments and offices,” she said. “This isn’t just a finance effort, it’s a team effort, and while we may lead it, there’s a commitment by all involved, including the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), county administration, the departments and offices. Everyone’s communication, involvement and meeting deadlines to get all the information to us makes this happen.”

Kelsey Roper, an auditor with McMahan and Associates, told the BOCC her agency audits governments, nonprofit organizations, homeowner associations and for-profit companies in mountain communities throughout Colorado.

“We’ve worked with Garfield County for four years now,” she said. “Our job is to give an opinion on the fair presentation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. In order to develop that opinion, we both gain an understanding of the county’s processes and procedures as well as substantively review your financials.”

McMahan and Associates interviews departments, looks through county accounting records, purchasing card activity, and banking statements, as well as performs analytics to look for trends and anomalies.

“This year, we’re happy to report a clean audit opinion,” Roper reported. “We’re happy to report we did not encounter any difficulties during our auditing procedures. We did not find any substantial corrected or uncorrected misstatements. We did not have any disagreements with management.”

“I think your team should be commended,” added Paul Backes, a partner with McMahan and Associates.

Earlier this year, Garfield County also earned the Government Finance Officers Association’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the 12^th straight year.

“We appreciate your staff, too, and you being straight forward with us and letting us know if we have challenges or if we’ve done a good job,” Commissioner John Martin told Roper.