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Auditors give South Brunswick an unmodified opinion; officials warn fund balance tightened
Summary
At the South Brunswick Board of Education meeting, auditors reported an unmodified ("clean") opinion on the district's June 30, 2025 financial statements and no formal recommendations, while warning that reserves and surplus have tightened and were used to balance the 2025-26 budget.
Paul Frereda, audit manager with Subly Clooney & Company, told the South Brunswick Board of Education that the district's June 30, 2025 audit produced an unmodified opinion and contained no audit recommendations. "I'm happy to inform the board' that again there are no recommendations in this year's audit," Frereda said during the board's February meeting.
The auditor described two reports filed with the state Department of Education: an auditor's management report covering compliance areas and an ACRA report containing the district's financial statements and the auditor's opinion. Frereda said an unmodified opinion means the financial statements are presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
Frereda summarized fund-balance figures in his presentation. He said the district "started with a fund balance of 15 million 956,000" and "ended the year with 14,36,000," and described a reduction through operations during the year. He also noted that a portion of the fund balance is already committed to capital and maintenance reserves and that the district applied reserves to provide tax relief in the 2025-26 budget.
Board members and staff praised the business office for the work that supported the clean audit. The board noted that the district had no audit "strikes" against it this year and thanked the business office and comptroller for producing the information the auditors needed.
Frereda cautioned that state aid reductions in recent years and limits on how much the district may retain in excess surplus have tightened available reserves. He said the district used about $4.75 million from reserves to balance the 2025-26 budget and that continued attention to operations will be needed to restore surplus levels.
The board asked no follow-up questions about the reports and accepted the presentation. The district and auditors indicated the reports were filed with the state Department of Education and will be available as part of the official audit record.
