Audit Finds Deficits And Financial Problems At Fewer Local Governments Despite Bad Year

While the fiscal picture looks dreary for some local governments with deficits and missing audit reports, the annual review of financial reports by the Office of Legislative Audits found that most counties and municipalities were able to stay in the black and produce independent audits with no problems.

The auditors looked at whether the counties, municipalities and taxing districts complied with accounting standards and state law. They also analyzed financial data to find potential problems
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At first glance, the findings look bleak. Six local governments -- Anne Arundel County and five municipalities -- ended the year with a negative balance. Three local governments -- Caroline County and two municipalities -- appear to be trending toward bigger financial problems. Several had problems with their audit forms.

However, auditors and advocates said that these results are fairly standard. Regardless of the year, there are always local governments that have problems, said Robert Garman, assistant director for quality assurance at the Legislative Audits office. He said that 2009 was a “pretty routine year.” Local governments faced severe financial challenges in 2009, but Garman said that didn’t translate to problems on audits and with budgets.

“They’ve all taken a hit budgetarily,” he said. “It’s been a challenge for all local governments.”

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