Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the District Finance Audit topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Amherst Central School District audit shows revenues above budget; board reviews reserve options
Summary
District staff reported preliminary audit figures showing roughly $81.3 million in revenues—about $3.6 million over budget—and recommended how about $4.5 million in unspent appropriations and reserves might be allocated.
Mrs. Kaczynski, a district staff member, told the Amherst Central School District board the external audit is in its third week and the district is "in good shape," with preliminary numbers the auditors and staff had largely agreed on.
The district's revenues for the year were reported at about $81,300,000, roughly $3,600,000 more than budgeted, Kaczynski said. She identified three main drivers of the surplus: stop-loss payments (about $1,000,000 above plan), higher interest earnings (described in the presentation as about $400,000 above budget), and greater-than-expected excess cost aid for special education. "We're in week 3 of our audit and it's going very well," Kaczynski said.
On the expenditure side, Kaczynski said the district underspent its appropriation by about $2,400,000. Combined with the revenue surplus and unspent appropriations, she said the district faces a decision about roughly $4.5 million that could be placed into reserves or its fund balance.
Kaczynski also described a restatement of the beginning fund balance related to long-standing receivables in the special aid (F) fund. After review with the new treasurer, Mrs. Stoll, staff identified more than $300,000 in expenditures that had not previously been recorded in the years when they occurred; auditors recommended a restatement for transparency. "It's not a red flag," Kaczynski said, explaining the auditors view the restatement as a common adjustment to present prior-year expenses in the years they occurred.
The presentation included detail on carryover encumbrances (purchase orders not completed before June 30), which this year totaled just under $1,000,000, and several specific year-end projects that contributed to the carryover, including cafeteria furniture replacement and track maintenance. Kaczynski said the district had fulfilled capital commitments to voters; staff noted a $3,200,000 promise for capital that was covered and an additional $1.7 million in a current capital reserve for future projects.
Kaczynski recommended funding certain reserves (including liability and insurance premium reserves) within board-approved limits and said the audit committee would meet next week to finalize entries. She said auditors will present the final audit in public session on Sept. 3.
Board members asked to see the linked presentation (which Kaczynski said is included in the weekly update) and confirmed they would move forward with the auditors to finalize numbers. If the board approves staff recommendations at a later meeting, the district will allocate the available funds into the reserves and fund-balance categories shown in the presentation.
The discussion remained at the preliminary stage; no formal vote on final allocations was taken at this meeting.
