Whitman County gets passing grade in audit; first time in more than decade

The Washington state Auditor’s Office announced Monday it had found no significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in Whitman County’s financial statements for the first time in more than a decade.

Last year, the state auditor’s office released a report on the county’s 2015 records that revealed a $2.5 million variance in ending cash amounts and accounting records. It was just the latest in years of reports and audits critical of the county’s recordkeeping.

In the most recent report, from 2016, the variance was comparatively small at $59,244.19.

Whitman County Auditor Eunice Coker told the Daily News she felt “absolutely fantastic” about the audit and she praised the work of Sharron Cunningham, who joined the office as county finance director in September 2016.

“For Whitman County, this is a good day and we hope to get better and better and better,” Coker said.

Though the state found no significant deficiencies in the county’s internal controls over financial reporting or major programs, two internal control weaknesses over the recording of financial transactions and financial statement preparation could increase the county’s risk of significant statement errors, according to the report.

Those weaknesses included a lack of review and monitoring controls to ensure errors or inconsistencies in the annual report are detected and resolved before the report is submitted. The county has also been determined to have an inconsistent documentation and monitoring process to ensure journal entries are properly authorized, supported and reviewed for accuracy before they are posted to accounting records.

As a result, though county employees were aware of the $59,244 variance, they did not have the opportunity to fully research the errors before the financial statements were submitted for audit.

The state also identified $71,000 that should have been reported as reserved rather than unreserved. In addition, numerous errors were found in notes to financial statements that did not agree to financial statement amounts or follow current Budget Accounting and Reporting System Manual guidance.

The state made several recommendations to the county including that it properly consolidate managerial funds, improve the consistency of its journal entry documentation and review process and perform a detailed review of financial statements before they are submitted.

The county is also being advised to comply with federal requirements that include written conflict of interest and procurement policies. County Commissioner Art Swannack said the county auditor’s office has provided the commissioners with a proposed conflict of interest policy that is still being worked through.

Audit Manager Debbie Pennick said she has seen such instances of improvement as Whitman County’s before, though those instances are rare.

“It’s amazing actually, the amount of improvement,” Pennick said. “A county is a very diverse, decentralized form of local government that has a lot of moving parts, and to get them all moving in the same direction takes a lot of effort.”