Audit Firm Gives County ‘Unqualified’ Top Rating

In another sign of the county’s continuing recovery from bankruptcy, an outside auditing firm has given Orange County a top rating after reviewing its annual financial statements.

The Ernst & Young audit is part of the 1996 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, a breakdown of the county’s fiscal picture produced each year by the auditor-controller’s office.

Ernst & Young gave the report an “unqualified” rating, saying that officials have sufficient internal controls in place and provided an accurate view of the county’s fiscal picture. State law requires such audits.

Last year, when the county was still in bankruptcy, it received a lower “qualified” rating by the accounting firm.