Members of the Pearl River County Utility Authority’s Board of Directors received good news during Thursday’s meeting, the Utility Authority received a favorable audit.

Jabe Mills, with Topp McWhorter Harvey PLLC, said the results of the audit from last fiscal year resulted in the Utility Authority receiving an unqualified opinion, which means no measurable deficiencies were found.

For the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2017, the Utility Authority ended with a total net position of $62.8 million, which included $71.4 million in total assets, and $8.3 million in total liabilities.

Over the course of the last fiscal year, the Utility Authority collected just less than $3.7 million in sewer fees, $221,865 in water fees, $67,191 in tap fees and $100,315 in miscellaneous revenue, for a total operating revenue of about $4.1 million. Operating expenses totaled a little more than $5 million, leading to  $930,807 in operating losses, Mills said.

The Utility Authority ended the year with a cash balance of a little more than $4.2 million.

In other business, the Utility Authority is currently looking for two people to replace staff that have or will move on to other jobs. Executive Director Ray Scott said that Picayune’s plant operator Tony Hall has resigned and that Allen Howe, director of operations, will soon move on to another job.

Scott said replacements are being interviewed, but replacements have not been finalized at his point.

Scott said the Board also discussed accepting a pump station located near the Top of the Hill shopping center at exit 4 in Picayune. Scott said the motion to accept the station was contingent on some minor cleanup work taking place at the station.

The next Board meeting will be Feb. 15 at 3:30 p.m. in the Boardroom at the treatment center in Picayune, located on Neal Road.