Effingham County commissioners expect to get the much-awaited and anticipated audit of the county presented Tuesday.

Commissioners approved using the Statesboro firm Thigpen, Westerfield. Lanier and Deal, which has been working on the audit since last October. Auditors asked for and were granted an extension beyond the Dec. 31 deadline to finish the review of fiscal year 2013.

Interim county administrator Toss Allen said the county had been told it would be finished the first week of May.

“They’re still working on this again. Now it’s the first week of June,” he said at the June 3 commissioners meeting, “and we don’t have it. We’ve been pushing.”

But the county cannot get another such extension, having exhausted the two it is allowed by the state Department of Revenue. An extension had been used for the previous audit, which was not delivered until last May.

With less than two weeks before the audit has to be sent to the state, county staff was anxious to get it and begin to answer questions that may arise from it.

“There are several days’ worth of work for this staff to do, once we get it,” county finance director Joanna Wright said. “There has to be some staff time to review this thing.”

Under state law, the county has to send its completed audit to the state by June 30.

The audited statements have three major sections — the independent auditors’ report, which is the firm’s opinion on the county’s financial statements, the management discussion and the audited financial statements.