External auditors give Williamsville schools a clean opinion and report bigger fund balance

Carl Widmer, a partner at Drescher & Malecki, told the Williamsville Central School District Board on Oct. 14 that the firm expects to issue a clean opinion on the district’s fiscal‑year 2025 financial statements and that the statements will be issued to New York State by the Oct. 15 deadline.

Widmer said total revenues for the year were $241,000,000, an increase of roughly $10,000,000 from the prior year driven primarily by higher‑than‑budgeted state aid. Expenditures were “just shy” of $214,000,000, producing an increase of about $27,000,000 in the general fund balance. The district’s total fund balance for FY2025 was reported at $133,500,000, with restricted balances and an unrestricted (blue‑line) unassigned portion of about $14,800,000.

The auditor reported no reportable findings related to internal control. He said the firm will issue the federal single audit later than the financial statements because the U.S. Department of Education had not released its annual compliance guidance for the year; management and auditors will complete that part of the work when the guidance is available.

Widmer described other routine deliverables — a management letter with small housekeeping recommendations tied to school lunch and extracurricular activities and an extra‑classroom activity report for clubs and student government. He invited board members and the public to contact the audit firm with questions after reviewing the full financial reports.

Board members thanked the auditor and district finance staff; the superintendent and acting assistant superintendent of finance had met with the audit committee earlier in the evening to review the results in more detail. The board did not take formal action on the presentation beyond accepting the audit communication.