District on track to close FY25; GASB guidance will require recognizing sick-leave liability

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Anchorage School District finance staff told the finance committee on Aug. 28 that preliminary FY25 closeout is proceeding on schedule and that new accounting guidance will change how the district reports accrued sick leave and certain revenue-risk disclosures.

“For context, we have about a $100,000,000 in sick leave, sitting in employees' banks right now,” said Andy Hallman, chief financial officer, describing the scope of accumulated sick time. Staff said auditors and administration are still refining the amount that must be recorded as a liability and provided a working estimate of roughly $35 million.

Why it matters: the change affects government-wide financial statements and will require additional disclosures about single-source revenue risks. Staff said the liability will appear on government-wide statements rather than in the general fund presentation and that the financial-statement effect will be significant even if it does not change the general-fund balance.

Details and next steps: administration said it is working with external auditors to refine the liability estimate and will present finalized numbers during the fall audit-close process, likely in November. Staff also noted forthcoming note disclosures about revenue concentration and potential risks if state or federal funding were reduced.

Staff reported no material issues in sampled transactions to date and said average pulled samples were clean; they will return to the committee with finalized closeout reports and auditor confirmations.