Clarifying the county audit

Published 9:44 pm Wednesday, April 11, 2012

To the editor,

Recently, a letter to the editor appeared in our Leader Publications papers referring to the recent Cass County audit. In the letter a statement was made: “Cass County now has more than $23 million of unrestricted fund balance available for any desired purpose or purposes, including road improvement.” The information below will clarify Cass County’s recent audit.
Cass County is required by the Government Accounting Standards Bureau (GASB) to include, for example, the Medical Care Facility in the audit. The Medical Care Facility is legally separate but functions as a department of Cass County and is included as an integral part of primary government in the Cass County audit. A large portion of the $23 million is the result of GASB requirements of including the county departments, which are considered to be governmental activities.
In the area of fund balances, there are: Restricted, Assigned, Non-spendable, Committed and Unassigned and/or Unrestricted. An Unrestricted fund is one that may not have restrictions, but unrestricted does not mean it is available for any use. An example of a restricted fund is the drug enforcement fund, which can only be used for drug enforcement.  In order to efficiently run the county, to meet the county’s obligations, to be prepared for emergencies and unforeseen circumstances, a balance is maintained in the General Fund, also part of the $23 million. The county has to be fiscally responsible. Furthermore, a factor that influences the General Fund balance is the timing of the audit, Sept. 30, 2011, which was after the summer taxes were collected.
For a great number of years Cass County has been very careful with its finances. We have an accountant who is a CPA and we have a treasurer who keeps track of county finances on a daily basis. We have 15 county commissioners and a budget committee of six members of the board of commissioners who meet and discuss how best to keep the county solvent. If you have any questions about the county finances, please contact any one of those mentioned above. We have a county website, www.casscountymi.org, and there are phone numbers and emails available.

Roseann Marchetti
Cass County Commissioner
Edwardsburg