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District audit delayed by federal shutdown; board told bond sale, Moody’s rating remain on track
Summary
Cache County School District administrators told the board the federal shutdown delayed the federal single audit and final audit report, but a second issuance of $139 million in 2023 general obligation bonds is expected to sell next week; Moody’s AA3 rating and a state AAA guarantee should secure favorable rates.
Jared Black, the district’s business administrator, told the Cache County School District Board on Oct. 16 that the federal government shutdown had delayed release of the federal supplement needed to publish the district’s full fiscal-year audit. “The federal supplement for that particular audit component has not been released for the fiscal year 2025,” Black said. He said the district completed on-site audit work and expects to publish the full audit once the federal component is available, possibly at the November board meeting.
Black outlined other upcoming reviews. He said a Land Trust Office review of school websites for land-trust compliance will begin in November and that the district will participate in audits or reviews of career-technical education (CTE) and school food services.
On capital financing, Black said the district is preparing the second and final issuance of bond funding from the 2023 general obligation bond authorization of $139,000,000. “Those bonds will be sold on the market and then we’ll close in early November and be able to receive that funding, which will help us to finalize the school construction projects that we’re in the middle of,” he said.
Black and board members reported that Moody’s assigned the district an AA3 rating and that the State of Utah provides a AAA guarantee behind that rating. Board President Terry Rhodes credited the business department’s work in maintaining fiscal strength. “The AA3 rating that we received from Moody’s is in large part due to Jared’s excellent work with the business department,” Rhodes said.
Superintendent Todd McKee told the board the district’s appeal to the Utah State Tax Commission to certify a proposed tax rate increase was denied. “We made an appeal to the tax commission with 35 other entities that were also denied,” McKee said. He said the district plans to use conservative budgeting and fund reserves to manage this fiscal year without immediate cuts, but that district leaders are scrutinizing all expenditures.
McKee provided construction and staffing updates tied to the new schools funded by prior bond approvals. He said walls are going up at one elementary site and that project timing is tight ahead of winter weather; the district posted three principal positions for the new schools. McKee also reported that the lieutenant governor visited Mountainside Elementary on Oct. 1 to observe early-literacy efforts and said the district plans to launch an “advanced learning committee” to review services for high-performing students across K–12.
No formal financial decisions were taken during the meeting; the board received the monthly financial reports covering the previous four months and asked for the full audit when the federal supplement becomes available.
