Larry Sneed, Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with Burnett & Sneed based in South Boston, presented the audit for the Commonwealth Regional Council (CRC) for the fiscal year lasting until June 30, 2018, during the CRC’s meeting Nov. 21 held at the Barbara Rose Johns Farmville-Prince Edward Library.

According to the audit report, the CRC’s net assets at the end of the fiscal year exceeded its liabilities. The CRC net assets for fiscal year 2018 are $48,724.67. The report cited that this is an $85,709.77 increase from net assets from the beginning of the fiscal year at -$36,985.10. The CRC is referenced as “Council” in the audit report. The total assets at the end of the fiscal year compared with the beginning of the fiscal year, according to the report, are $548,294.24 and $524,705.36 respectively.

The total liabilities for the end and beginning of FY 2018 are listed as $499,569.57 and $561,690.46 respectively.

“The Council’s overall financial position improved during fiscal year 2018,” the report cited.

According to the report, total net assets were comprised of capital assets of $4,602.25 that include property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation. Unrestricted net assets of $44,122.42 “represent the portion available to maintain the continuing obligations to citizens and represented localities,” the report cited.

CRC Executive Director Melody Foster asked why long term liabilities have reportedly decreased from the year before.

Sneed said during the meeting that this was due to the stock market doing fairly well in the last year. “Basically the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) has gotten all of these monies invested in all of these different investments, and the more they increase in value, the less that the unfunded liability’s going to be in the VRS funds,” Sneed said during the meeting. “For a while when the stock market was tanking, starting in 2008 and 2009, the unfunded liability was huge. I mean, it was bad. It was really bad. And I think I shared that with you, the group several years ago. But since the stock market’s coming back so well, the unfunded liability is reduced.”

CRC member Mike Hankins noted a recent drop in the stock market by 950 points.

“Would it be reasonable for us to expect for it to not look so good when it gets to January?” Hankins said.

Sneed noted that this particular audit only tracks the CRC between July 1, 2017, and June 30 of this year.

“Well I think this is an ambitious board,” CRC member Nancy Carwile said. “So you figure that our assets and our liabilities will go up next year … And that’s a good sign.”

Foster asked about fringe benefits listed in the audit, or benefits that employees receive such as vacations and leaves. She expressed confusion about the amount listed on one portion of the audit, saying she knows there the total for fringe benefits was greater than what was listed on the audit.

Sneed said the total benefits had decreased this year as opposed to the previous year. Sneed said in a phone interview Monday that this decrease may have been in part due to the departure of the former CRC executive director, Mary S. Hickman, in 2017.

CRC member Morgan Dunnavant asked about the definition of indirect expenses, listed underneath fringe benefits.

Sneed said the indirect portion is defined as expenses that cannot be pegged to a specific employees, such as purchasing a bundle of office supplies that could be used by various employees.