We are required to be independent of the County and to meet our other ethical responsibilities, in accordance with relevant ethical requirements relating to our audit. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our qualified and unmodified opinions on compliance for each major federal program and state project. Our audit does not provide a legal determination of the County’s compliance with the compliance requirements referred to above. Matter Giving Rise to Qualified Opinion on CDBG – Entitlement Grants Cluster As described in the accompanying schedule of findings and questioned costs, the County did not comply with requirements regarding CDGB – Entitlement Grants Cluster as described in finding number 2023-001 for Reporting. Compliance with such requirements is necessary, in our opinion, for the County to comply with the requirements applicable to that program. Responsibilities of Management for Compliance Management is responsible for compliance with the requirements referred to above and for the design, implementation, and maintenance of effective internal control over compliance with the requirements of laws, statutes, regulations, rules, and provisions of contracts or grant agreements applicable to the County’s federal programs and state projects. Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of Compliance Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether material noncompliance with the compliance requirements referred to above occurred, whether due to fraud or error, and express an opinion on the County’s compliance based on our audit. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not absolute assurance and therefore is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, Government Auditing Standards, the Uniform Guidance and Chapter 10.550, Rules of the Auditor General, will always detect material noncompliance when it exists. The risk of not detecting material noncompliance resulting from fraud is higher than for that resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. Noncompliance with the compliance requirements referred to above is considered material if there is a substantial likelihood that, individually or in the aggregate, it would influence the judgment made by a reasonable user of the report on compliance about the County’s compliance with the requirements of each major federal program and state project as a whole. In performing an audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, Government Auditing Standards, the Uniform Guidance and Chapter 10.550, Rules of the Auditor General, we: • Exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. • Identify and assess the risks of material noncompliance, whether due to fraud or error, and design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks. Such procedures include examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the County’s compliance with the compliance requirements referred to above and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. 397
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