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Committee hears audit progress: 2023 surplus driven by benefits; 2024 planning nearing completion
Summary
Assistant Director of Finance Joanne Stirk and auditors told the finance committee that the $7.9 million 2023 surplus is largely driven by employee benefits accounting, that student activity fund reporting has improved, and that planning for the 2024 audit is nearly complete with a target draft in August to move audits toward timeliness.
Joanne Stirk, assistant director of finance for the Danbury School District, briefed the finance committee on audit progress for fiscal 2023 and 2024, saying the surplus listed in the district’s Tyler Technologies system for 2023 — about $7.9 million — is almost exclusively driven by employee benefits accounting and related budgeting inconsistencies.
Stirk said employee benefits lines in the ledger are labeled in ways that obscure the mix of social security, health insurance, workers’ compensation, unemployment and other benefits. She told the committee the $8.5 million aggregate driver of the apparent surplus is “almost exclusively health benefits,” and staff will break the figure out further in follow‑up materials.
Stirk described the audit timetable: planning for the 2024 audit is nearly complete, and the team aims to deliver a draft by August so the district can file fiscal 2025 in a timely manner (the target for filing 2025 is February, with the district aiming for earlier). She said the planning stage has reduced outstanding planning requests from roughly 30 items to about five and that field work for 2024 will require focused sampling of bank reconciliations, payroll and procurement documents.
The committee heard that auditors (RSM for the city, CLA consulting support) are testing population samples and that some remaining tasks relate to newer GASB disclosure requirements for software agreements; those items are being worked at the city level and may affect consolidated disclosures. Stirk emphasized the district has improved lead time on student activity funds and pension census data, crediting staff — including Angela — for putting reporting systems in place that produced timely information for auditors.
On internal controls, Stirk and audit consultants flagged separation‑of‑duties weaknesses in a small finance team. Stirk said correcting that will likely require at least one additional finance staff position and internal reassignment so that no single person both approves payments and performs reconciliations.
Why it matters: Late audits and unclear statements create operational friction with the city and the state municipal finance oversight committee (MFAC). Moving audits earlier and improving documentation reduces the risk the city faces additional oversight and improves the district’s ability to present reliable financials to the public and the board.
