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Auditor gives Winslow Township Board an unmodified opinion; flags excess cash in food-service fund
Summary
Bowman presented a clean opinion on the district's FY2025 financial statements but noted a repeated finding: the food-service fund holds excess cash above the USDA/NJ Dept. of Agriculture threshold and requires a corrective action plan; auditor reviewed fund balances, capital and maintenance reserves and next steps.
Bowman (auditor) presented the Winslow Township School District's annual comprehensive financial report and auditor's management report at the Dec. 10 board meeting, issuing an unmodified (clean) opinion on the 2025 financial statements while identifying one repeat finding: excess cash in the food-service fund.
The auditor (Miss Yang) explained that the food-service program is required to operate on a nonprofit basis and that state and federal reimbursement calculations can cause the program's cash-on-hand to exceed the regulatory threshold (cash exceeding about three months' average operating expenditures). Because the district's food-service cash balance surpassed that threshold, the audit report includes a finding and requires a corrective action plan to be filed with the New Jersey Department of Education and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, as has happened in prior years. The auditor noted the district has used prior reimbursements to fund equipment upgrades and other allowable uses and has planned further spending (including high-school serving-line upgrades recently bid at approximately $890,000) intended to reduce the cash balance.
Key figures reviewed by the auditor: a FY2025 revenue budget stated at about $111 million and realized revenue of roughly $115 million (approximately $4.1 million over budget); general fund balance of about $43.4 million including approximately $20 million in capital reserve (with $14 million planned for use in 2025–26), a maintenance reserve of about $4.2 million, and an excess surplus obligation of roughly $5.5 million that must be budgeted in a future year. The auditor said none of the general fund lines were overexpended and that the district did not need to issue bonds for planned capital projects because of reserves.
Board members asked for clarification on the audit finding and for assurances that corrective actions and planned capital spending would reduce food-service cash. The auditor said the district has implemented corrective actions in prior years and will submit the required corrective action plan. The board will consider a corrective action plan later in the agenda as required by NJDOE reporting rules.
The auditor also thanked district staff for cooperation during fieldwork and said the audit documents are publicly available via the state's electronic repository.
