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Amador County Unified board accepts audits; $368,006 questioned after late transportation plan
Summary
Trustees accepted the county and district FY2024-25 audits but learned auditors flagged a $368,006.61 questioned cost because the district adopted its home-to-school transportation reimbursement plan after the April 1 Ed. Code deadline; district staff said it will appeal and has created corrective controls.
The Amador County Unified School District Board of Trustees on Thursday approved the county and district annual audit reports for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, even as auditors identified a significant compliance issue tied to the district’s home-to-school transportation reimbursement plan.
Robert Norton, the district’s chief business official, said Christie White LLC completed the audits in January after a government shutdown delayed the normal December timeline. He said the county audit was “clean” with no findings, and the district audit contained one new finding: the transportation reimbursement plan was not adopted before the April 1 deadline required by Education Code, creating a “questioned cost” of $368,006.61. “For the 24-25 fiscal year, ACUSD did not update this plan prior to April 1, which results in what’s called a questioned cost of $368,006.61,” Norton said during the presentation.
Norton told trustees the district formally adopted the plan in August 2025 and will pursue a summary-review appeal with the California Department of Education (CDE) after the CDE formalizes the audit finding. He said the district’s routes and targeting of funds — toward TK–6, low-income and vulnerable students — comply with the spirit of the program, and the corrective actions already in place include a standardized compliance calendar and earlier review steps beginning in January so the March board presentation and April adoption occur on time in future years.
Trustees pressed staff on timing and impact. Norton said the CDE could take anywhere from a week to a month to issue formal audit documentation; once received the district would have 30 days to file an appeal. If the CDE denies the appeal, the district could be required to return the funds; if allowed, the funds would remain intact. “It would come in the form of a reduced revenue,” Norton said when asked whether the $368,006 would affect the district’s bottom line.
The district audit also showed general fund revenues of $60,356,002.30 against expenses of $62,000,007.30, producing a $2.37 million decrease in the general fund balance to $5,977,001.42; unrestricted funds dropped to about $2.09 million. Norton noted that an adjustment related to COP fund transfers affected reserve calculations and that pension cost pressures (CalSTRS, CalPERS) and federal funding uncertainty were listed as operational risks in the auditors’ report.
The board voted to accept the audits following the presentation and the Q&A. Norton recommended the board approve the audited financial statements; trustees recorded their votes before moving on to other agenda items.
