Oak Park–River Forest auditors give district a clean FY24 opinion; general fund balance rose sharply

The Oak Park–River Forest School District’s Committee of the Whole heard a presentation on the fiscal year 2024 audit on Jan. 8, 2025, during which the district’s external auditor said the audit produced an unmodified opinion and the Illinois School Board/ISBE submission earned a top score.

McKay Thorpe, the audit manager from Lauterbach and Amen, told the board the district received “an unmodified opinion, which is the highest opinion that we can offer,” and described the audit as a reflection of the business office’s preparation.

The auditor and district staff highlighted several results and causes. The audit showed what the presenter called about a $7.2 million increase in the general fund (roughly 17%) and an ending general fund balance of about $49 million. The auditor noted that, when compared with total expenditures (about $72 million, excluding certain on-behalf items), the ending balance represented roughly 68% of annual expenditures.

Board members pressed staff and the auditor over why revenues exceeded budget. The audit team and business-office staff said the principal drivers were higher earnings on investments, accounting recognition for student activity funds, and accrual-basis adjustments used in the audited financial statements. The auditor explained that the district budgets on a cash basis while the audit converts accounts to accrual for reporting; that conversion includes an accrual for investment market value that can raise reported interest income for audit purposes. District staff also said a $442,000 variance in “district school activity income” reflected student activity funds now required to be reported in the district’s financials and not increased fees charged to families.

Tony (business-office staff) and Brian (business-office staff) credited more accurate construction draw schedules and tighter salary projections as additional reasons the FY24 variances were larger than projected. They said the budget process will be tightened going forward and that those adjustments and the different accounting bases help explain the swing between budgeted and audited numbers.

The audit report packet included the district’s Annual Financial Report/AFR submission and a certificate of achievement from the Association of School Business Officials cited in the auditor’s slides. The auditor also presented the management letter; he described items as either “informational” or “best-practice” recommendations and said there were no material operational findings requiring immediate corrective action. The audit cited upcoming GASB guidance implementation needs; the auditor and staff said GASB Statement 101 (non‑compensated absences) will be implemented in next year’s financials as shown in the management response.

Committee members discussed how the audit was reviewed by the district’s Citizen Finance Committee (CFC). Several board members said they value direct presentations from the auditor and asked staff to provide a written summary from the CFC in addition to the auditor’s presentation at the regular board meeting in two weeks.

No final action on the audit was taken at the Jan. 8 Committee of the Whole meeting; the presentation was described as informational and expected to return to the regular board agenda for formal acceptance.

Ending: District officials said they will use the audit findings to refine projections for investment earnings, construction draw schedules and salary forecasts in the FY26 budget cycle and will return the finalized audit materials and any CFC commentary to the full board at the next regular meeting.