Auditor gives Cannon Falls a clean opinion; district posts modest general‑fund gain

Steve, an auditor with Smith Schafer (presenting firm), told the board the district received an unqualified opinion on its most recent financial statements, meaning auditors found no qualifications that would alter the overall opinion. "Yours is what we call in our jargon, unqualified. To layman terms, it's clean," he said.

Steve told the board auditors performed Minnesota compliance testing and identified one noncompliance finding described as "insufficient collateral" for a bank item; he noted a second check also showed insufficient collateral on a July item. He also described student activity compliance issues: some funds lacked a statement of purpose and some inactive accounts were not closed, which the auditors flagged for correction.

On district finances, Steve said average daily membership (ADM) was up about 3 percent, driving revenue changes. He reported a roughly $500,000 increase in the general fund for the audited year and an unassigned fund balance of about 4.4 percent. "That's a good year," he said, while cautioning some one‑time items and coding changes contributed to expense swings and that parts of the increases may reverse next year.

Board members asked clarifying questions about the audit letter, accounting estimates and the effect of new GASB guidance on government‑wide reporting; Steve said those changes affect government‑wide presentation but not the district's fund accounting. The board thanked Steve for the presentation and accepted the audit information as presented. The finance report that followed was approved by the board on a separate motion.