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Independent audit clean; finance staff brief board on proposed teacher pay and property‑tax timing
Summary
Independent auditors delivered an unmodified (clean) opinion on the district’s 2024 financial statements and a single audit that covered ESSER and special‑education federal programs. Finance staff summarized proposed state budget actions affecting teacher pay and noted a year‑to‑date local revenue increase driven by timing.
Brian Nicholson, engagement director with the accounting firm Malden & Jenkins, told the board the district’s 2024 financial audit was completed in accordance with government auditing standards and resulted in an unmodified (clean) opinion. Nicholson said there were no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies identified in the audit or the single audit of major federal programs.
Nicholson said the district’s single audit tested ESSER (elementary and secondary school emergency relief) program expenditures (about $9,100,000) and the special education cluster (about $1,700,000). He said because the district is a low‑risk auditee, the minimum testing threshold is 20 percent of expenditures, but auditors tested about 55 percent for the large ESSER program.
Finance director Miss Barrett reminded the board of legislative budget proposals under discussion at the state level that would raise beginning teacher pay from $45,000 to $50,000 and include a proposed $3,000 across‑the‑board salary increase for certified staff; she said the legislature’s process would determine the final outcome.
Barrett also discussed local revenue timing: the district showed a 3.3 percent revenue increase in local property‑tax receipts year‑to‑date, but she cautioned such monthly or quarterly variance can reflect timing of payments rather than an underlying change in overall collections. Board members asked about the district’s fund balance; Barrett said the general‑fund balance at June 30 was approximately $24,000,000.
Why it matters: a clean audit affirms the district’s financial statements and controls for 2024; proposed state budget changes could materially affect next year’s personnel costs if enacted.
