District audit returns unmodified opinion; finance overview shows surplus and new Perkins funds for machining

Representatives for the district and its external auditors presented the fiscal year 2025 financial results at the October regular board meeting. Aaron Dahl of Bergen KDB told the board the auditors issued an unmodified opinion on the district’s basic financial statements — the highest standard for financial-statement assurance — but reported one significant deficiency in internal control related to segregation of accounting duties.

Dahl said the deficiency involved “overlap in duties related to the initiation, recording, processing and reporting of the financial data,” a common concern in smaller districts where full segregation can be cost-prohibitive. He said auditors found no material weaknesses beyond that deficiency in the government auditing standards review shared in the transcript.

District financial staff presented enrollment and budget figures. The district’s October 1 count showed enrollment close to budgeted projections; staff said resident ADM decreased slightly (0.1%) while total ADM served increased modestly compared with the prior year. In the first month of the fiscal year, the district reported receiving $5,000,522 (12.8% of the adopted budget) and expending $8,539,000 (20% of the adopted expenditure budget), with both revenue and expenditures “trending on track” compared with prior years.

For fiscal 2025, the general fund showed an actual surplus of about $1.7 million (versus a projected $733,000 surplus), driven by higher-than-expected state general education and special education aid and stronger investment income. The district’s general fund balance rose to about $8.4 million at year-end, with an unassigned fund balance of roughly $3.9 million.

Auditors also provided preliminary single-audit information: the federal compliance supplement for 2025 had not been issued yet, delaying a full single-audit report. Dahl said auditors reviewed federal special-education programming and “didn’t find anything of note” for fiscal 2025, but that the single-audit report would be dated separately when the supplement is released.

Superintendent and staff announced a separate funding development: the district received $20,000 in Perkins Career and Technical Education funding specifically to support its new machining program, bringing total Perkins dollars for the year to about $31,000 (up from about $12,000 the prior year). The district said the Perkins funds are 100% reimbursable up to $20,000 for eligible equipment purchases such as drill presses, grinders and spot welders; staff said additional CTE purchases are anticipated in fiscal 2027.

Board members were told the district submitted its property-tax levy to the county auditor and the Minnesota Department of Education by the September 30 deadline and will hold its Truth in Taxation hearing with final numbers at the district’s December meeting.