Southampton County leadership — its county administrator and board of supervisors — have taken a public beating in recent months regarding the courthouse and the decision to subsidize the cost for residents to play golf at Cypress cove Country Club. That beating may or may not be justified, depending on where one stands on those issues. However, the recent audit of the county’s books for the financial year that ended on June 30, 2017, certainly seem to indicate that those responsible for taxing residents and spending the money have done a commendable job of keeping our financial house in order.

The audit revealed that the county took in over $800,000 more in revenue than what had been expected for the year, while also spending $800,000 less than what had been budgeted.

The county school board, for that matter, also spent less than what it had budgeted, although by a much more modest amount.

We have never fully agreed on how government should operate and what its priorities should be.

And we never will. But it is encouraging to know that, while there are many localities around us whose financial houses are on fire, Southampton County’s leadership has things under relative control.