County Legislature Democrats wanted to know the true shape of the county's finances. What they got was an affirmation that the county's accounting practices are in order. Yes, there's a difference.

Today was the second meeting of a bipartisan budget committee formed to find ways to plug a minimum $29 million county budget gap. The six legislators that make up the committee - three from each party - got a chance to talk to the representatives from the county's auditing firm, KPMG.

But all the auditors were able to offer was, in the words of firm partner Andrew Mistur, "reasonable assurance" that the county's financial statements from 2007 contained no "material misstatements." Anything else, he said, was better directed at county management.

Democratic Legislator Carrie Andrews tried to coax specifics from county finance director Steve Gleason. He would only say, "We can do better; there's no question about it."

The committee is scheduled to meet again at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, August 20. Up for discussion will be the Medicaid intercept and related issues.