County, Langley receive audit findings

Published 1:30 am Friday, April 3, 2026

The Washington State Auditor’s Office recently issued findings for both Island County and the city of Langley.

The two, separate audits cover the periods of Jan. 2023 until Dec. 31, 2024.

The state auditor issued a finding against the county in an accountability audit report. The report states that the county did not have adequate internal controls to ensure compliance with state procurement requirements.

Specifically, the audit found that the county did not properly procure a $326,000 contract for elevator modernization or a $323,000 contract for road paint. The county did not properly follow state laws that allow for “piggybacking” with other local governments to fulfill bidding requirements in contracting with vendors. The county didn’t properly document professional services that were deemed to be sole source.

In addition, the county does not have adequate policies to ensure compliance for like-kind procurement transactions, the report states.

“The county is decentralized and does not have a procurement department or specified staff to oversee procurement transactions,” the report states. “Instead, each department is responsible for its own procurement and performs procedures independent of other departments. County policy, procedures and training are not adequate to ensure that staff responsible for procurement are following expected controls and retaining documentation to support compliance.”

The effect of the problems, the state auditor concluded, is that the county could not provide documentation to show it complied with competitive procurement requirements.

In its response, the county states that it contracted with an elevator maintenance company through a cooperative contract and that the vendor is familiar with the county’s elevator systems. The county conceded with the contract for purchasing road paint was out of date.

“Island County remains committed to complying with updated procurement policies and maintaining the necessary supporting documentation,” the county’s response states. “The county recognizes the need for continued efforts to clarify procurement roles, responsibilities, training and oversight.

A financial statement audit report on Langley states that the city did not have adequate internal controls ensuring transfers were eliminated from its financial statements. This was the same finding that the state auditor issued on the prior audit.

“Although the city was informed during the prior audit of the need to eliminate intrafund transfers,” the audit states, “staff did not adequately adjust their financial statement preparation procedures to ensure it eliminated intrafund transfers when combining funds for reporting purposes.”

The effect of the problem, the report states, is that the city overstated transfers in and transfers out in the years 2023 and 2024 financial statements. The misstatements did not affect ending cash balances, and the city fixed the problem.

In its response, the city states that great efforts have been made to ensure staff is adequately trained and internal controls were implemented, but the efforts weren’t soon enough to prevent the misstatements.

“The city is small, so turnover has a significant impact on our ability to thoroughly implement internal controls,” the city responded. “Maintaining managerial funds introduces a level of complexity beyond the city’s needs, requires more staff time to ensure proper reporting and complicates staff transitions.”

The city has a history of problems with financial statements. The state auditor issued management letters for the 2015-2016 and 2017-2018 audits as well as findings during the 2019-2020 and 2021-2022 audits.