Garden City USD 457 receives clean audit; board accepts financial report

An external auditor presented the Garden City USD 457 district audit to the Board of Education and the board voted to accept the report.

Lisa Axeman, speaking for the audit team, summarized comparative finance charts, reporting that the district’s base state aid (budget per pupil) was about $5,378 for 2025 and projected at $5,615 for 2026, and that the district’s combined funds totaled about $54,000,000 with a planned increase of roughly $14,000,000. She said the district carried about $70,000,000 in bonds and approximately $12,000,000 in finance leases largely associated with recent HVAC projects.

"Overall, the district did have a clean audit report. There were no findings that we had from this audit," Axeman said. The presenter noted the management letter and the letter to the governing body had been shared with the audit committee and staff and that many of the comments already have been addressed by district personnel.

Board members asked clarifying questions on the composition and timing of the debt, the finance leases for HVAC work and the pay-off timeline for bonds. The auditor pointed trustees to footnote disclosures in the financial statements for additional detail.

Speaker 3 moved to approve the district audit report as presented; the motion was seconded and the board approved the audit report by voice vote.

The auditor offered to meet individually with trustees to review details if requested. No material weaknesses or findings were reported in this audit.