The Office of the Washington State Auditor recently concluded its two-year audit of the Port of Centralia, and the results were announced during the Port’s regular meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 17 by Lisa Carrell, audit manager for the Auditor’s Office in Olympia, along with lead auditor Jenny Chang and audit supervisor Paul Griswold.
Carrell began by saying the goal of their audits is to help increase public trust in local and state governments by providing “transparent examinations of the operations” of those governing bodies.
The audits also help in identifying areas where those governing bodies can improve, along with areas in which they are doing well. Specifically, auditors focused on Open Public Meetings Act compliance, verifying annual reports are being completed and filed on time and corroborating the Port’s financial information with third-party sources.
Chang explained this audit covered the Port’s business from January of 2020 through December of 2022.
“Our audit found the Port’s operation complied in all material respects, applicable to state laws, regulations and its own policy and provided aggregate control over the safeguard of public resources,” Chang said.
She added the auditors recommended changes in some areas, including adjusting the Port’s planning procedures that incorporated reviews, meeting minutes along with financial data.
Specifically, Chang stated one issue was found with vacation pay calculated for a Port employee.
“We know that the vacation payout was miscalculated for the salary employee due to the system calculation,” Chang said.
She recommended the Port strengthen its payment controls.
Open Public Meetings Act compliance was also looked at, and minor discrepancies were found when it came to time allotments for executive sessions.
As for the Port of Centralia’s financials, Chang explained she was pleased to report they had issued the Port a “modified clean audit opinion” for its financial statement.
“This is the opinion you want to receive and provides the assurance financial statements are stated fairly and they’re materially correct,” Chang added.
The auditors also found no “significant deficiencies” in the port’s internal financial controls or any which could be considered material weaknesses and zero incidents of non-compliance. Chang did note that there were some uncorrected misstatements, but concluded the items were immaterial and did not affect the Port’s overall financial statement.
“Those items have been shared with Port management, and we’re confident they’re working on correcting those areas to prepare future financial statements as well,” Chang said.
She also thanked Port officials and staff for their cooperation during the audit. Carrell stated the auditors would return in 2026 to perform a financial statement accountability audit.
Additionally, Port of Centralia Commissioner Kyle Markstrom asked the auditor’s about public complaints concerning the Port made to the Auditor’s Citizen Hotline portal. Carrell explained the Auditor’s Office has been receiving complaints.
“I believe that some of the concerns shared with us had components that are outside of our scope of authority, so we are not able to investigate all inquiries and information that comes to our office,” Carrell said.
Of the complaints that were within the scope of the office, Carrell stated the concerns were looked into by the auditors who found no issues.
In a news release, Port of Centralia Commissioner Julie Shaffley stated she was pleased with the audit’s results and thanked the auditors.
“I want to recognize staff and in particular Director of Finance and Administration Amy Graber for her outstanding work overseeing Port finances and receiving the Port’s 14th straight clean audit,” Shaffley said. “The constituents of the Port of Centralia can be confident that the Port is being operated in compliance with state statutes and is in strong financial position moving into the future.”
Shaffley also encouraged anyone interested to read the audit report on the Auditor’s Office website by searching for the Port of Centralia here, https://sao.wa.gov/reports-data/audit-reports.
To listen to the Jan. 17 meeting where the audit results were discussed, visit https://portofcentralia.com/documents-center/meeting-agendas-and-minutes/ and scroll down to meeting recordings.
