At their January meeting Yancey County Commissioners received good news concerning the condition of county finances for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2017. Travis Keever, with the accounting firm Gould Killian CPA Group, P.A., presented Commissioners with the results of the yearly audit of county government financial standing, which showed a stellar financial situation. One area of particular interest was the continued improvement in the available fund balance, which is basically a “rainy day” fund for county government. Every county in North Carolina is required to have a minimum available fund balance at 8% of the total budget. For several years Yancey County has been working to achieve not only the required 8% but also to achieve a Board of Commissioners policy which stated that the fund balance would be at least 16%. According to Mr. Keever, Yancey County has achieved both of those marks with an available fund balance this year at 17.3%.
Since 2008, when the fund balance was at negative 9%, Yancey County has worked diligently to rebuild the fund balance to come into compliance with the State requirements. Chairman Johnny Riddle stated, “It has been a long road for us to build up our fund balance. When I was first elected in 2008, it immediately became a priority to put the County’s financial house in order. Being able to achieve and surpass our goal of 16% available fund balance in only 9 years is a testament to the hard work by Yancey County employees and their commitment to our vision of rebuilding this fund balance. All of this has been achieved while moving Yancey County forward by finishing the new library, building Cane River Park, and building a new elementary school. We want to continue the economic growth that has taken place in Yancey County over the last 9 years and achieving this goal will significantly affect our ability to do that.”
