Dougherty County officials say no grant funds forfeited due to late audits

ALBANY – After researching reports that Dougherty County was ineligible for $558,000 in state money for road resurfacing, officials say that the county did not miss out on the round of Local Maintenance & Improvement Grants from the state Department of Transportation.

The county was two years behind in completing required annual audits, but it was not punished for its tardiness, County Commissioners Russell Gray and Clinton Johnson said.

“To date we have not lost any funds due to Fiscal Year 2022 and 2023 audits being late,” interim County Administrator Barry Brooks said. “The audit is late, according to the law, but it has not affected the county to date. As far as I know, the LMIG is the only grant program that has been called into question.”

Brooks, who has been serving as administrator for about a year, attributed the failure to complete audits on time to the county’s Finance Department being short-staffed. Also, there are less auditing firms doing this work for counties and municipalities, and there is a backlog for that work, he said.

The county is working with the Mauldin & Jenkins accounting firm, which handles its audits, and its financial consultant and has a plan to catch up, Brooks said. An assessment team with the firm is doing an evaluation of the county’s finances as part of that work.

“This had been committed to even before” the grant issue was raised, he said. “Mauldin & Jenkins said this is a positive step. The team will tell us what we need to do to improve Dougherty County’s fiscal operations moving forward.”

Through the steps taken, the county is on the path to catch up and have the audit for the 2024 fiscal year (July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024) completed within the 180 days after the start of the 2025 fiscal year on July 1, 2025, as required by state law, Brooks said.

Moving forward, the interim administrator said he would like for the commission to examine its ordinances with an eye toward ensuring it is operating with current standards in its finances. Those ordinances have not been addressed in years, and he said he also has not found an operational plan for the county along those lines.

“Even in my acting role, I felt the commissioners needed to head in that direction, and we’re heading in that direction,” Brooks said. “My goal is to get Dougherty County positioned so they are able to handle the next 10 to 20 years of financial operations.”

The 2022 audit has been completed and the 2023 audit is “almost done,” said Commissioner Clinton Johnson, who chairs the commission’s Finance Committee.

A performance review under way to gauge the county’s Finance Department also will help, he said.

“That’s going to show where our shortcomings are, as far as staff shortages go,” Johnson said. “This will bring Dougherty County into the 21st Century. We’re moving in that direction. We’ve found the problem, and we’re trying to address it.”

Special PhotoFile Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]