Dunn County increased unassigned fund balance by $4 million in 2021
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — Dunn County increased the county’s unassigned fund balance by $4 million, from $9.9 million in 2020 to $13.9 million as of December 31, 2021.
The Neighbors of Dunn County had a positive year and transferred $1.3 million to the county’s general fund, and Health and Human Services also had a positive year and transferred $1.6 million to the general fund, said April Anderson of Clifton Larson Allen LLP during her audit report to the Dunn County Board at the September 21 meeting.
In addition, Dunn County collected $750,000 more in sales tax than had been included in the anticipated revenue for the 2021 budget, Anderson said.
According to information included in the Dunn County Board packet, the unassigned fund balance was $8.4 million in 2019 and was $8.3 million in 2018.
Dunn County used $1.6 million from the unassigned fund balance to balance the 2022 budget, Anderson noted.
The recommended percentage of unassigned fund balance to general fund expenditures is 25 to 33 percent, she said.
The percentage of unassigned fund balance to general fund expenditures usually is around 35 to 45 percent in northern Wisconsin, and Dunn County’s percentage was 60.6 percent in 2021, Anderson said.
The county’s percentage of unassigned fund balance to general fund expenditures was 43.6 percent in 2020, was 38.7 percent in 2019 and was 38.8 percent in 2018, according to the audit report.
While human services was able to transfer $1.6 million to the general fund in 2021, some years human services has had a deficit, Anderson said.
For the last three years, human services has been able to transfer money back to the general fund, she said.
Highway Department
The Dunn County Highway Department had no available cash at the end of the year in 2021 and has had no available cash for the past several years, Anderson said.
In 2021, the highway department’s unrestricted fund had a deficit of $4.7 million, and in 2020, the unrestricted fund had a deficit of $4.8 million, a deficit of $1.6 million in 2019, and a deficit of $1.3 million in 2018, according to the audit report.
The recommendation is to have a ratio of 1 for receivables to liabilities, but the highway department has been less than 1 for the past three years, Anderson said.
The ratio calculation includes cash and investments, accounts receivable and current liabilities, and money due to other fund balances, according to the audit report.
The ratio in 2021 and 2020 was .07, was .27 in 2019 and was 4.43 in 2018.
Long-term debt
Dunn County had equalized value of $3.8 billion in 2021. In 2020, the county’s equalized value was $3.6 billion, and in 2019, the equalized value was $3.4 billion and was $3.2 billion in 2018, according to the audit report.
State law sets the debt limit for municipalities at 5 percent of the equalized value.
In 2021, the county’s general obligation debt limit was $192 million, and Dunn County had 24.4 percent of general obligation debt as a percent of debt limit.
In 2020, the county’s general obligation debt limit was $180 million, and Dunn County had 27.3 percent of general obligation debt as a percent of debt limit.
In 2019, the county’s general obligation debt limit was $168 million, and Dunn County had 23.1 percent of general obligation debt as a percent of debt limit.
In 2018, the county’s general obligation debt limit was $159 million, and Dunn County had 21 percent of general obligation debt as a percent of debt limit.
Opinion
Clifton Larson Allen issued an “unmodified” opinion on the audit of Dunn County’s finances, which is a “clean” opinion and the highest opinion that can be issued, Anderson said.
Dunn County had two “material weaknesses,” and one “significant deficiency,” she said, noting that the material weaknesses and deficiency were all recurring from year to year, and there were no new findings for 2021.
The material weaknesses include annual financial reporting under Generally Accepted Accounting Principals (GAAP), which relates to the fact that Dunn County does not do its own annual financial reporting but instead relies on Clifton Larson Allen, Anderson explained.
The other material weakness is audit adjustments that Clifton Larson Allen must make while conducting the audit, she said.
Audit adjustments occur when the auditor must move income or expenses to a different category than the one in which the county employee recorded the income or expenses.
The significant deficiency is limited segregation of duties, Anderson said.
Dunn County does not have enough employees in all departments to separate out the handling of financial transactions and to involve multiple people in overseeing accounts receivable and accounts payable.
