This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. To get regular coverage from The Monitor, sign up for a free Monitor newsletter here.
MACHIAS, Maine — Washington County’s auditor says he can’t meet the deadline commissioners and Machias Savings Bank have agreed to for completing 2023 and 2024 audits and has given his notice.
In February, when Washington County paid its overdue 2025 tax anticipation note, the bank agreed to issue a 2026 TAN for $7 million, to be delivered in two payments.
The first, for just under $5 million, has already been paid to the county. The second, of $2 million, will be available on July 1 as long as the county meets multiple terms and conditions, including delivery of its audited financial statements for 2023 and 2024 by June 30, 2026.
That is also the deadline set by the bank for the county to hire a full-time financial director.
In his notice of withdrawal, auditor Stephen Hopkins, a certified public accountant based in Scarborough, wrote “based on my completion of prior fiscal year audits, I don’t feel that I would be able to complete both of these audits by this agreed upon deadline.”
The shortest period of time he’d spent on any previous audits has been seven months, Hopkins said. He’s already committed to completing overdue 2021 and 2022 audits for the Unorganized Territory, and couldn’t begin work on the county’s 2023 and 2024 audits until that work is done.
“This would not leave a reasonable period of time to complete” the two county audits before the June 30 deadline, Hopkins wrote, exercising an option under his contract with the county to give his notice of withdrawal.
Hopkins recommitted to finishing the Unorganized Territory audits and offered to prepare an audit documentation binder with information he has gathered on the county’s most recent 2022 audit, along with any other material he has, including financial statements.
At the commission’s regular meeting on Thursday, commissioners accepted Hopkins’ notice and asked County Manager Renée Gray to draft and post a request for proposal seeking a new auditor.
Machias Savings Bank has asked that the county’s 2025 audit be complete by June 1, 2027.
“We agreed to follow the conditions set by the bank,” Chair David Burns said. “We agreed to do that and intend to follow through.”
Commissioners hope to open responses to the request for proposals when they meet next month, leaving a little over two months to meet the bank’s terms.
The finance director position has been posted and commissioners also hope to have some applications to consider next month.
As part of their continuing work to better organize the county’s finances, commissioners adopted a policy, as recommended by Hopkins, requiring department heads to keep a recording of all capital assets valued at $5,000 or more that have an estimated useful life of more than one year. These recordings will be included as part of the county’s annual financial statements going forward.
Commissioners also repealed a policy that had previously allowed departments to carry over unspent funds on the same line item into a new budget year. Repealing the policy, which was adopted in 2020, ends the practice of automatic carryover for all departments.
In other business, commissioners signed a letter to be sent to the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary and to Washington County’s legislative delegation asking for more judge time for rural counties.
The county’s sole designated judge is retiring this year and no replacement has been assigned. Just before signing the letter, Burns said Washington County deserves the same access to judge time as more populous counties, and that the lack of attention is straining resources in the county’s district attorney’s office.
Commissioners also conducted a public hearing on an ordinance that would restrict the weight of vehicles on posted roads to 23,000 pounds, matching the same restriction in state law.
The county has posted roads in the past, but never had an ordinance to enforce the weight limit.