PONTIAC, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Oakland County government’s third-party auditor was critical of the county’s accounting in its recently released annual audit, saying that mistakes were made and there was a “lack of sufficient oversight” in some of the ledgers.

Rehmann Robson, a firm of certified public accountants, is the county’s independent firm and made the statements as part of the audit of the 2023-24 fiscal year. The county has net assets that exceed $2 billion.

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Rehmann Robson stated they had no knowledge of any fraud or suspected fraud.

Among the issues cited by the auditor:

“The County’s accounting records were initially materially misstated with respect to the following opinion units: the general fund, the ARP [American Rescue Plan] fiscal recovery fund, the nonmajor governmental funds, the water & sewer trust fund, the nonmajor enterprise funds, the internal service funds, and aggregate discretely presented component units. Audit adjustments to these funds included material corrections to liability accruals including accounts payable and unearned revenue, capital assets, federal and state grant revenue, among other adjustments.”

“Certain bank reconciliations during the year were not completed and reviewed timely. The effectiveness of the review process was not sufficient to identify the differences in the bank reconciliation in a timely manner. There was a lack of sufficient oversight in order to properly reconcile bank information to the general ledger timely. Additionally, there were accounts which were not initially provided as part of support for cash and investment reconciliations because of a lack of communication between Fiscal Services and decentralized departments.”

Rehmann Robson stated, ” … management is responsible for maintaining its accounting records in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Internal controls did not detect all adjustments necessary to properly record year-end balances. … As a result of this condition, the County’s accounting records were initially misstated by amounts material to the financial statements.”

Bill Mullan, public information officer for Oakland County, responded to the auditor’s criticism in an email to Michigan News Source.

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“Oakland County’s commitment to strong financial management is reflected in our AAA bond rating and our track record of passing a balanced, bipartisan budget every year,” Mullan said. “Our Fiscal Services team is proactively strengthening internal controls over financial reporting to enhance transparency and accuracy. By working closely with our auditing team, we are ensuring continued fiscal excellence for the benefit of Oakland County residents and taxpayers.”