The Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts annually prepares a Comparative Report of Local Government Revenues and Expenditures for all local government ins the Commonwealth, in accordance with § 15.2-2510 of the Code of Virginia. This report intends to provide the General Assembly and governing bodies and officers of Virginia’s cities, counties, and towns (as well as presumably, citizens, taxpayers, and voters) an with a valuable analytical tool to review local government fiscal activities. This report provides a uniform presentation of fiscal information based on data submitted by the localities.
In accordance with § 15.2-2510 of the Code of Virginia, all cities and counties, and towns meeting the statutory reporting threshold, are required to file a detailed statement of revenues and expenditures accompanied by the locality’s audited financial report with the office of the Auditor of Public Accounts annually by December 15.
For the fiscal year 2024 reporting, 81 localities did not timely submit their audited financial reports, transmittal data, or both submissions to the Office by the statutory deadline. The localities’ untimely submission of financial reporting information continues to delay our internal review process and the final publication of the Comparative Report.
As of the date of the FY 2024 report, the Cities of Colonial Heights, Emporia, Franklin, Hopewell, Manassas Park, Martinsville, Norton, and Roanoke; the Counties of Accomack, Alleghany, Buckingham, Charles City, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Lee, Northumberland, Pulaski, Russell, Surry, Warren, and Westmoreland; and the Towns of Big Stone Gap, Blacksburg, Broadway, Clifton Forge, Marion, South Hill, and Vinton have not submitted fiscal year 2024 transmittal data and audited financial reports. In addition, the County of Scott has submitted the transmittal data but has not submitted the audited financial report. Accordingly, the final publication of the 2024 Comparative Report does not include financial data for these 30 localities.
Not preparing timely financial information may be an indicator of a locality’s need to strengthen its budgetary, accounting, and financial reporting processes. The Code of Virginia § 15.2-2511 requires the external auditor to present the results of the audit to the local governing body at a public session no later than December 31. The presentation of the audit results provides an opportunity for local officials to remain informed of any internal control shortcomings that need corrective action or other significant financial matters. Delays in these presentations may result in a locality not timely addressing any potential internal control shortcomings or other matters.
Why should this missing data bother Fairfaxians? Fairfax County taxpayers send roughly $2.5 billion more to Richmond each year than the county receives back in grants and services. In other words, through the Commonwealth budgets allocation of grants to other localities, Fairfax County residents contribute substantially to the local public services in each of Virginia’s 133 counties and county-equivalent localities, including in the 30 localities that failed to report their spending data. Many of these localities impose very low property taxes on their own residents, and are happy to rely extensive intergovernmental fiscal transfers from the commonwealth and the federal government. As such, it is important that these local governments are held to account for their failure to produce audited accounts revealing their spending choices, as this information ought to be available to their own constituents and taxpayers, as well as to state government officials, acting on behalf of all taxpayers of the commonwealth who fund these intergovernmental transfers.
