External auditors give Burke County Schools a clean opinion; highlights show small general fund surplus

External auditors Jim Loudermilk and Rick Hammer presented the 2024 audit highlights to the board and reported an unmodified (clean) opinion on the financial statements and no findings for state public school funds or governmental compliance tested.

Loudermilk and Hammer said the audit required extensive sampling of school-level transactions and reported few problems. For the general fund at June 30, auditors reported cash and investments of about $4.05 million, liabilities around $503,005 and a fund balance near $3.54 million. General-fund revenues totaled roughly $20.28 million against expenditures near $20.10 million, producing a $176,296 surplus in that fund for the year.

In the district’s Child Nutrition Fund, auditors said operating revenues fell (partly because more students were eligible for free meals), operating expenses were higher, but federal and state non-operating reimbursements resulted in a net income of $173,289 for the year. On a full-accrual basis for all funds, total assets included capital assets; the district’s net position included larger pension and OPEB liabilities reported under current accounting standards, producing a net deficit figure the auditors described as typical because of statewide retirement reporting.

Auditors said the audit was submitted to the Local Government Commission and approved; they noted no difficulties and commended staff cooperation. Board members asked about depreciation and OPEB impacts; auditors explained accumulated depreciation and statewide retirement liabilities are presented in full-accrual statements and affect net-position totals.

The board accepted the presentation; the administration will schedule follow-up meetings for members who want more detail.