Financial Statement Audit – Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2025

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Report Summary

Background

The Office of Auditor of Accounts presents a financial statement audit of the governmental activities and major fund of Delaware Agricultural Lands Preservation Foundation (Foundation). This audit was conducted for Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2025. The primary objective of a financial statement audit is to provide reasonable assurance that the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of an entity.

A single audit was also conducted for Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2025. The primary objective of a single audit is to provide assurance that a non-federal entity has adequate internal controls in place and is following program requirements that could have a direct and material effect on the financial statements. All nonfederal entities that expend $750,000 or more in federal funds in their fiscal year are subject to single audit requirements. For fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 2024, the threshold has increased to $1 million.

The Agricultural Lands Preservation Act (Act) was enacted on July 8, 1991 to conserve, protect, and encourage the improvement of agricultural lands within Delaware for the production of food and other agricultural products. Preservation of the State’s farmlands and forestlands is considered essential to maintaining agriculture as a viable industry and an important contributor to Delaware’s economy. The Act also provided for the creation of the Agricultural Lands Preservation Foundation. The Foundation has been charged with the authority and responsibility of establishing and administering an extensive statewide program to preserve Delaware’s farmlands and forestlands.

The Foundation preserves land through two major programs. The Aglands Preservation Program and the Young Farmer Loan Program:

• The Aglands Preservation Program allows landowners to voluntarily preserve their farms through a two-phase process. The first phase, which does not include any payment to the landowner, is known as an Agricultural Preservation District. In phase two, the landowner is paid to sell their farm’s development rights, known as an Agricultural Conservation Easement.

• The Young Farmer Loan Program offers a 30-year, no interest loan to help young farmers purchase farmland, one of the chief obstacles to starting out in business. The loan is for up to 70 percent of the appraised value of the farm’s development rights, not to exceed $500,000. Farms in the program are placed into a permanent preservation easement.

Key Information and Findings

For the year ended June 30, 2025 and the year ended June 30, 2024, the Foundation received $10,000,000 in grant funding from the State bond bill, of which up to $3,000,000 could be utilized for the Young Farmers Program, and of which $1,000,000 could be utilized for the Delaware Forestland Preservation Program.

For the year ended June 30, 2025, the Foundation’s assets and deferred outflows increased by $10,886,307 to $342,964,918 from $332,078,611. For the year ended June 30, 2024, the Foundation’s assets and deferred outflows increased by $11,972,996 to $332,078,611 from $320,105,615.

For the year ended June 30, 2025, the Foundation’s net position increased by $10,949,579 to $342,432,765 from $331,483,186. For the year ended June 30, 2024, total net position increased by $12,058,302 to $331,483,186 from $319,424,884.

The financial statement audit contains an unmodified “clean” opinion. An unmodified opinion expresses that the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, an entity’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.

The auditor’s reports over internal control over financial reporting, major programs, and compliance for major programs also contained unmodified opinions.

There were no findings required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards.

Year	Governmental Fund Revenues	Easements Settled
2025	$13,091,106	$518,400
2024	$12,195,849	$1,504,262
2023	$25,936,727	$793,420
2022	$13,686,116	$3,572,065
2021	$9,136,691	$3,649,851