ST. MARY’S TODAY

LEONARDTOWN --- The St. Mary’s Board of Commissioners were told at their January 6^th meeting that according to an independent audit of the county government, St. Mary’s is in top financial shape.

Timothy Murphy, of Murphy and Murphy CPA LLC, located in La Plata, told the board that based on the review of the revenues, the balance sheet and the county’s cash flow, he would give the county the "highest level of opinion a CPA can express." He pointed to the draft of the auditor’s report to show that the county’s revenues were $1.3 million lower than expected due to lower income tax revenues and lower interest payments, but said that due to the board’s spending cuts during the fiscal year, the loss did not hurt the financial status of the county.

Murphy told the board that the county had maintained its AA bond rating, and "that’s as high as one could expect." He reported that St. Mary’s County is the leader in southern Maryland in high tech jobs, which saw a 43 percent growth over the last fiscal year running from June of 2002 to June of 2003. Private employment was reported to be up as was Naval employment, and Murphy told the board that Tourism has done very well, all contributing to the low three percent unemployment rate in the county, and a higher than state average median household income of approximately $59,000 yearly.

St. Mary’s Board of Commissioners President Thomas McKay (R. Hollywood) asked if there were any flags in the internal procedures that need to be addressed. Dana Frazier, Manager of Murphy and Murphy said that the internal controls were tight. "It’s come a long way for the two commissioners [St. Mary’s Commissioners Daniel Raley (D. Great Mills) and Thomas Mattingly (D. Leonardtown)] who have been here for a while," said Frazier, who told the board that improvements were needed in the past, but that the finance department has done a great job tidying itself up.

St. Mary’s Commissioner Lawrence Jarboe called attention to the fact that the auditors report stated "There were no tax rate or service charge increases for the 2004 budget year." Raley, however, questioned the nature of the report, wondering of the picture was as rosy as it appeared. He asked how long the current auditor has been working with the county, and said that there have been cases where accounting firms have missed things after working with the same group over time.