Richfield board accepts clean audit, notes timing issue on single-audit and one late payment

The Richfield School Board voted Dec. 15 to accept the district's 2024'25 audit after a presentation by auditors from LB Carlson. Auditor Bill Lauer said LB Carlson issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the district's financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025.

Lauer told the board the audit included three headline points: a delay in issuing some single-audit work for federal awards (the district receives more than $750,000 in federal awards annually) because final OMB guidance was posted late in the cycle; a $1.7 million increase in long-term liabilities for compensated absences under recently implemented GASB accounting guidance (which lowers entity-wide net position but not the district's fund financial statements); and one Minnesota statutory compliance finding for a disbursement that was not paid within the state's required 35-day window, explained as a mail-routing issue to the central finance office.

Board members asked follow-up questions about the late-payment finding and the single-audit delay. District staff said the late payment resulted from an invoice addressed to a school building that did not have regular mail pickup over the summer; the district is reviewing mail routing and centralization options to prevent recurrence. Lauer said the Department of Education in Minnesota recognized the single-audit timing issue and extended submission deadlines to align with federal deadlines; the auditor expects to complete that work early in the new year.

Director Paulson moved to accept the auditor's report and Director Rachel Banks Kupcho seconded. A roll call vote recorded all board members as voting aye and the resolution accepting the report was approved.

Next steps: staff said they would return with process adjustments to centralize or expedite invoice handling and will notify the board when the single-audit reports are complete.