FY2023 audit flags material weakness in financial reporting; single-audit filing late

Independent auditors told the Iowa City Community School District board on Sept. 9 that the district's FY2023 financial statements received an unmodified audit opinion but included a material weakness for untimely financial reporting and several significant deficiencies that the district must correct. The audit team also reported late filing of the district's single-audit package under federal requirements.

Kristen Hughes of RSM, the district's auditors, summarized the audit documents, which include the district's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA). "The large document is the district's annual also known as the ACFR," Hughes said, and she pointed board members to the MD&A (management's discussion and analysis) for a concise summary.

The auditors said revenue rose about $15.7 million (roughly 6 percent) from FY2022 to FY2023 and identified the primary drivers as roughly $8 million in additional state sources and about $3 million in higher interest income. Expenditures rose substantially as well'total expenditures rose about 24 percent year over year, the auditors said, driven primarily by increased capital outlay (about $24 million) tied to…