BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

FRANKFORT — State Auditor Mike Harmon has released the annual audit of the financial statement of the Martin County Fiscal Court for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022. Despite a sudden change in county leadership following the death of former Judge/Executive Victor Slone, the audit noted fewer issues than in any recent year.

“State law requires annual audits of county fiscal courts,” Harmon said in releasing the audit Tuesday. “Our goal is to ensure that public resources are protected, accurately valued, properly accounted for, and effectively employed to raise the quality of life of Kentuckians.”

Harmon’s office flagged a single issue in the audit report, commenting that Martin County Fiscal Court “failed to implement adequate controls over debt-related transactions that resulted in exceeding the approved budget” by $18,109.

This figure corresponded to a 2005 financing lease for $200,000 that the county secured and paid directly to Martin County Water District. Even though the water district makes the lease payments directly to the trustee, the fiscal court must include the payments in its financial statement and budget.

Harmon’s office noted this was a repeat finding from the prior 2020-2021 fiscal year audit.

The auditor notes that in response to the finding, the judge/executive commented, “An appropriations transfer was made to rectify this in the October meeting to be incorporated into the 2023 budget. The fiscal court will start reporting the third-party loan in their annual budget.”

Former Judge/Executive Colby Kirk said Tuesday of the audit, “We worked hard for that. It was a group effort. I’m sure Judge Lafferty will keep it up.”

To view the audit report, visit auditor.ky.gov.