New auditor: Wauwatosa audit delayed while actuary finishes valuation; DPI filings on time

Christina Dommer, a CPA with Lauterbach & Amen, told the Wauwatosa School District Finance & Resource Committee that the firm’s first-year audit work is essentially complete but the final audit report is delayed while an outsourced actuarial valuation is finished. Dommer said audit procedures, trial balances and DPI filings required for aid certification have been submitted on schedule and that the firm expects to issue the audit report in mid‑February and present final results to the board in March.

Dommer described the extra procedures typical in a first‑year engagement, including additional testing of payroll, grants and capital assets and review of prior auditors’ documentation to validate beginning balances. She said the district’s adjusted trial balances and general ledger are accurate and that the firm is preparing GAAP financial statements once the actuarial numbers are received. “We haven’t stumbled across anything in our audit process this year that would have tipped us off to anything like that,” Dommer said when asked whether a forensic audit was needed; she advised that a forensic‑level review is generally requested only when there is suspicion of fraud.

District staff and committee members asked timing and next‑step questions; the auditor reiterated that actuaries’ limited capacity and an outsourced full valuation — required this year — are the reason for the delay. Dommer said the district should receive a draft PDF for internal review by late February, with highlighted fields for actuarial entries until the valuation is finalized. The committee did not take formal action on the audit update at the meeting.