Contacts: Lane County Board of Commissioners, 682-4203; Acting Lane County Financial Services Manager Mike Barnhart, 682-4199

Lane County Government received a nod for its fiscal responsibility in the latest external audit.

Lane County maintains a high quality bond rating for general obligation bonds and an upper-medium quality bond rating for other issues. These attractive bond ratings are a direct result of fiscally conservative financial policies to budget within means while maintaining adequate levels of reserves.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, the County reported an increase in net assets, and as of June 30, 2009 the County’s assets exceeded its liabilities.

The increase in net assets is a direct result of the County’s financial planning in anticipation of the loss of Federal funding. Lane County has a “prudent person” reserve policy of maintaining a 10 percent reserve in the General Fund and a 5 percent reserve in all other funds which has been successful in providing a measure of financial stability in difficult times.

“To plan for that funding loss, the County has reserved a higher percentage of the General Fund than stated in the reserve policy so that those funds can then be spent to continue service levels as long as possible,” said Commissioner Bill Fleenor.

At this time, it is estimated that the County’s financial condition will remain fairly positive for the next two fiscal years, but beginning in Fiscal Year 2012-13, current financial projections show a deficit of more than $17 million in the General Fund.

Moss Adams, the County’s external auditors, issued an unqualified (clean) opinion on Lane County’s basic financial statements and did not report any deficiencies in internal controls. Moss Adams did report two budget violations and one compliance violation, all of which have approved corrective action plans.  The annual report by Moss Adams to the Board of County Commissioners was made on December 16, 2009 and can be viewed on the web at http://apps.lanecounty.org/WebCast/

Lane County’s budget and financial services divisions both receive annual national awards for their public documents. The awards are issued by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada to governments whose budget documents and comprehensive annual financial reports (CAFRs) achieve the highest standards in governmental budgeting, accounting, and financial reporting. Lane County has received these awards every year for the past six years and has submitted their most recent public documents for continued recognition.

The most recent Budget Documents and CAFRs can be found on the Internet at www.lanecounty.org

Amber Fossen

Public Information Officer

Lane County Government

125 E. Eighth Ave.

Eugene, Oregon 97401

(541) 682.3718

(541) 359.9143 (cell)