State tax audit finds Yakima County financial discrepancies, but tied to technical glitches

State auditors found problems in the way Yakima County reported some of its finances last year, but the errors were related to technical glitches that have been resolved, Yakima County Auditor Charles Ross said.

“Taxpayers need to know this audit in no way shows that any tax money is missing or misappropriated in any way,” he said.

The state audit covered a period from January to December 2020. The audit found large discrepancies in revenue and expenditure in several accounts.

Those problems have been fixed, according to the state audit report.

Despite those internal reporting discrepancies, the county’s bottom line remained balanced and accurate, said Ross and Craig Warner, the county’s finance director.

A midyear software change proved a huge undertaking that fostered much change in the way the county’s finances are reported, the said.

“It’s hard to move a government this size from one software to another,” Ross said.

Also, a new budget manager was hired about that time, he said.

Despite the discrepancies, the audit was the best collaborative effort over the past eight years between state auditors and the county in quickly identifying and correcting such reporting errors, Ross said.

State auditors worked with the county to assure the new system was fine-tuned in a way that aligns with state reporting guidelines, he said.

“We appreciate the state auditors’ team for coming in and looking through this with us,” Ross said. “They just really did a good job combing through the details with us.”

• This story has been updated to clarify Auditor Charles Ross' comment about how this audit compares to previous ones.