BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI
North Country This Week

CANTON — Auditors from Drescher & Malecki, LLP say the county is in a strong financial position and found no issues in an audit for fiscal year 2022.

Charles Trottier, CPA and Luke Malecki, CPA, both presented their findings to the board of legislators during an operations committee meeting on Aug. 14, saying the county came back with a clean bill.

Malecki noted the significant influx of grants in recent years, along with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that have been utilized to bolster county infrastructure and services during the COVID pandemic, as well as following the pandemic.

A review of the financial statement showed revenues have steadily trended upward over the last five-years with a “steady fiscal approach in the management of the fund balance.”

Of note, Malecki said revenues have exceeded expenses in each of the last five-years.

In 2022, revenue totaled $214.3 million versus $203 million in total expenses, leading to a rise of $11.5 million in the fund balance. As of the audit, the fund balance sat at $59.9 million, he said.

Non-property tax items, such as state and federal aid, along with other revenues and transfers increased but Malecki did say departmental income from services, as well as real property taxes and tax items did drop slightly in 2022.

Real property taxes were down $1.7 million in 2022, while departmental income dropped $900,000 in 2022 compared to 2021.

Another bright spot was the increase in sales tax revenue collected in 2022, which increased almost 12% since the COVID pandemic.

Despite state and federal aid being up almost 10%, auditors did say the county should tread carefully since some funds would not be available in the future, including ARPA funds.

Malecki told legislators that it would be hard to predict how that will look in the coming years.

In regards to real property, the county saw growth totaling just under $2 million, due in part to a hot real estate market.

Regarding expenditures, auditors say economic assistance and opportunity aid like that offered by the Department of Social Services rose in 2022, like due to hardships families experienced during COVID.

Auditors also pointed to services coming back online fully as the pandemic wound down, with an influx of state and federal aid assisting in some cases.

When it came to the highway department, auditors pointed to transfers out that were up to $6 million in total, which constituted the road repair fund, as well as other ARPA funded projects and machinery. In total, other expenditures increased nearly $5 million thanks to the influx of ARPA funding, auditors found.

After all is said and done, auditors say the unrestricted and unassigned fund balance, which sits at 16.8% compared to a total county budget of roughly $200 million, is right at the average and is in line with recommendations from the state comptroller’s office.

Legislators Joseph Lightfoot took a moment to offer praise to county officials, particularly Administrator Ruth Doyle and Treasurer Renee Cole.

“I think this gives a pretty good look and opinion of the treasurer, the treasurer’s office and our county administrator. The attentiveness to the budget and what they’ve been able to accomplish with the legislature backing them up shows in this audit,” he said.

Lightfoot also pointed to the fact that St. Lawrence County fell in line with state recommendations, while four comparable counties struggled to do so. Those counties, which include Jefferson, Wayne, Oswego and Warren counties, range from 22% to 55.9% when assessing fund balances versus annual spending, auditors said.

“St. Lawrence County is at the bottom of the pile of the five counties, when comparing fund balance to others,” he said.

“I think that’s a good thing but I think that our county residents need to know that the fund balance St. Lawrence County has is far from being excessive. It comes in under the guidelines of the state of New York, what their recommendations are for the fund balance. It doesn’t exceed it. We don’t spend money nilly willy. And I think your audit shows that,” Lightfoot continued.