Independent auditors give Sun Prairie Area School District unmodified opinion on 2024 financial statements

Tara Bast, audit partner with Johnson Block and Company, presented highlights from the Sun Prairie Area School District’s audited financial statements for fiscal year 2024 in a screencast overview.

Her office issued an unmodified opinion on the district’s financial statements, meaning the auditors found the statements “fairly stated and presented in accordance with applicable accounting standards and free of any material misstatements,” Bast said.

The audit matters matter because an unmodified opinion indicates the financial statements can be relied on by the district and external stakeholders for budgeting and reporting. The audit also supplies the Department of Public Instruction-required aid and audited fund balance certifications used for state reporting.

Johnson Block summarized the district’s general fund position and related trends. Total general fund assets reported were $60,860,000, with current liabilities of just over $18,000,000 and short-term cash-flow borrowing of $9,000,000, leaving a reported total fund balance of $33,573,000. The auditors noted unassigned fund balance equaled 13.7% of the next year’s operating budget, and total fund balance equaled 19.6% of the operating budget; comparable prior-year figures were 17.1% and 22.7%.

Bast said the district’s amended general fund budget had forecasted a $874,000 decrease in fund balance, while actual results for the general fund and special education fund showed an increase in fund balance of $1,900,000, driven primarily by instructional expenses coming in under budget.

The audit also covered other funds. The food service fund, reported as a major proprietary (business-type) fund on a full-accrual basis, showed a decrease in net position of $557,863 because revenues were less than expenditures on that basis; a related summary showed net cash and equivalents increased by $355,500 after operating, noncapital financing, capital-related and investing cash flows.

Johnson Block provided a five-year overview of expenditures and revenues, noting instruction and support were the largest expenditure categories and that taxes and intergovernmental revenues (state and federal aid) were the two largest revenue categories. On long-term debt, Bast said state statutes allow the district to borrow up to 10% of equalized value for general obligation debt; at fiscal year-end 2024 the district had used about 37% of that capacity, leaving roughly 63% available.

Other audit observations included recommended management reviews: revisiting the district’s capitalization policy and the approach to estimating compensated absences in light of new governmental accounting standards. Bast said the audit communication packet issued with the report contained no matters other than required language and that federal and state compliance testing disclosed no material weaknesses, significant deficiencies or other compliance findings.

The auditors also recorded that the district transferred $500,000 to its capital improvement fund during the year, resulting in an ending balance of $8,900,000 in that fund. Bast noted the food service fund’s reported regulatory/budgetary decrease in fund balance was approximately $612,000 before full-accrual adjustments.

The presentation was a summary of the audit report content; full details, including the independent auditors’ report, notes to the financial statements, required supplementary information and budget-to-actual schedules, are available in the audit report package for fiscal year 2024.