JAY SANUDO
Nottoway County ended its 2024-25 fiscal year with an unassigned fund balance of about $5 million, “which is a little low,” according to auditor Jay Sanudo.
Nottoway County’s budget is nearly $60 million a year. Auditors generally recommend that local governments maintain cash on-hand an amount equal to or greater than 20% of its annual budget.
Sanudo, a CPA with Robinson Farmer Cox (RFC) Consultants, presented the County’s annual audit Thursday night and reported that revenues increased by $3.8 million to $23.9 million. “This is mostly due to the increase in general property taxes and other taxes and interest income.”
Supervisor Bo Toth said the County’s finances “appear to be better, but expenses seem to be worse.”
Nottoway currently has about $9.2 million in longterm debt. That number could increase considerably later this year if Supervisors, who are under court order, approve construction of a new courthouse. Some informal estimates have exceeded $20 million.
Auditor Sanudo said the County last year “did a good job budgeting,” but his report included a management letter citing a “material weakness” — “due to the volume of journal entries.”
Sanudo also cited a finding on internal controls involving “bank reconciliations and the Treasurer, including checks written after the fiscal year as outstanding checks in the bank reconcilation as cash. Really, these should be Accounts Payable and not be included as cash.”
Sanudo also said year-end
“were not being consistently recorded or reversed… Some accruals from this year were recorded, and some were not.”
Excerpts from the management letter: “There is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the entity’s financial statements will not be prevented or detected by the entity’s internal controls over financial reporting…The County should implement steps and controls to improve its financial reporting process.”
Another excerpt: “We noted errors which required adjustments to current financial statements, indicating a material weakness in controls over financial reporting…The County should implement steps to improve its financial reporting process.”
Supervisor Daphne Norton, who serves on the Finance Committee, asked Administrator Steve Bowen if he wished to “elaborate” on the audit report.
“On this audit?” Bowen replied. “What do you want me to ‘elaborate’ on? We’ve had so many meetings.”
Supervisor Norton said she spent “over 40 hours” reviewing the report and that she’s “proud” that the County managed to save $700,000 between the landfill and costs of owning property at Pickett.
Supervisor Dicky Ingram agreed. He said landfill expenses in FY 2024 were $1.56 million and dropped in FY25 to $1.246 million. The LRA (former Local Redevelopment Authority) lost $245,000 in FY ‘24 but showed a gain of $521,000 thanks to timber and land sales in Pickett Park. “We’re trying to find ways where we can save money.”
“We are being more frugal,” Supervisor Norton agreed. “And we are going to look at EVERY DEPARTMENT as we prepare the next budget.
Supervisor Norton also said that County Administration staff, the School Division, and Treasurer’s and Commissioner of Revenue’s offices are now working as a close-knit team.
“In two years, we’ve done a lot,” Mrs. Norton concluded.
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