UCFSD auditors issue clean opinion; board informed of $51,000 Collegium charter settlement and tax-share shifts
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Summary
At a work session, district auditors summarized a draft 2025 audit with an unmodified opinion and administrators briefed the board on a proposed settlement to pay roughly $51,000 to Collegium Charter School and on multi-county tax-share changes driven by shifting market values.
Bob Kaufman, a manager with CLA, told the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District work session that auditors issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the district's draft 2025 financial statements and on compliance for federal programs. Kaufman said the independent audit identified unfavorable variances in the general fund—lower-than-expected real-estate tax collections and higher employee-benefit costs—and reported a roughly $5 million net reduction in capital funds this year, primarily for a high-school roof replacement and an HVAC chiller project.
The administration flagged one immediate finance item for next week's vote: a settlement agreement with Collegium Charter School to resolve a late year-end reconciliation invoice from 2023-24. Assistant Superintendent Mr. Dady said the settlement would allow the district to pay slightly more than $51,000 and remove the liability from the district's books as PDE finalizes charter reconciliations.
Dady also briefed the board on a multi-county real-estate tax-share calculation for the 2026-27 budget cycle. Because Delaware County market values rose faster than Chester County's, Delaware County will bear a slightly larger share of the district's tax base next year, he warned, noting the district will present more detailed budget materials in April and May when the budget book and hearings occur.
The auditors' report included a single-audit schedule because federal expenditures exceeded the $750,000 threshold; Kaufman said the special-education cluster (IDEA) was the major federal program tested and that compliance opinions for those funds were also unmodified.
The board and administration said they would post the final audit to BoardDocs and the business office web page once the draft is finalized. At the meeting, no formal vote on the Collegium settlement was recorded; the settlement was described as an item up for vote at the board's next regular meeting.
The administration did not provide a final adoption action at the work session; next steps are the formal vote on the Collegium settlement and the April'May budget presentations.