Auditors give North Polk Community School District an unmodified opinion for fiscal 2024; two minor findings noted
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Summary
An external audit of North Polk Community School District financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2024, returned an unmodified opinion. Auditors highlighted revenue gains driven by state aid and local taxes, higher expenditures tied to facilities and bond debt, and two nonmaterial findings that district staff have begun to address.
Nick Staley, a certified public accountant and partner at TrustPoint, presented the independent audit of North Polk Community School District’s financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2024, and said the firm issued an unmodified opinion — the highest standard auditors can provide.
Staley told the board the district reported total governmental revenues of about $35 million for fiscal 2024, roughly $2.5 million more than the prior year. He said the increase was driven primarily by higher local tax receipts (about $1.2 million) and increased state aid (about $1.8 million), while federal revenue declined by roughly $400,000 as one-time COVID-era programs expired.
The audit showed total governmental expenditures of about $42.95 million, an increase of roughly $3.0 million from the prior year. Staley attributed the rise to several items, including increased instructional spending, about $8.9 million in facilities acquisition tied to ongoing construction projects, and the district’s first principal payment on the 2023 general obligation bond of about $3.1 million.
“Those financial statements … present fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position of North Polk Community School District as of June 30, 2024,” Staley said.
Staley said the audit did not disclose any material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and found no noncompliance with federal or state award requirements. He described two other, less significant findings in the schedule of findings and questioned costs: a variance in the certified enrollment data reported to the Iowa Department of Education (finding 2024‑H), which the district reported it has already begun addressing by letter to the department; and a small deficit in one student activity account (reported as the girls’ basketball account, roughly $250), for which auditors recommended exploring transfers from other student activity accounts to eliminate the deficit.
Board members and district staff thanked the auditor and district business staff for producing a comprehensive report. After questions and brief discussion, a board motion to accept the fiscal year 2024 audit report passed by voice vote.
The audit report and supporting schedules were included in the board packet. The district will continue to work with auditors and the Iowa Department of Education to resolve the certified‑enrollment variance and will investigate remedies for the student activity deficit.
Ending: The board approved the audit as presented and will keep the financial schedules available for public review as part of the district’s transparency practices.
