Board committee accepts FY23 audit; auditors report unmodified opinion, multiple material weaknesses and $141M city-held deficit

The committee on accountability, finance and personnel of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors voted unanimously Friday to accept the district's fiscal year 2023 audit documents after a presentation from Baker Tilly and district finance staff.

The audit firm issued unmodified opinions on the district's FY23 financial statements and the district's two pension plans, meaning the auditors found no material misstatements in the financial statements. "For 2023, we were able to issue unmodified opinions for the district's financial statements," Baker Tilly principal Wendy Unger told the committee.

Baker Tilly and district staff emphasized that the unmodified opinion on the financial statements does not eliminate other problems found in the audit process. The single-audit work tied to federal and state grants produced findings: auditors reported two federal findings (including issues with ESSER equipment and real property management and a Medicaid ratio reporting error) and one state finding (four teachers in a tested sample not licensed for the AGR program). The single-audit schedule shows a total of 11 findings across financial- and compliance-related work.

Audit…