Board accepts 2023-24 audit showing $5.1 million positive variance and no findings

The Big Spring School District board on Sept. 15 accepted the district's 2023-24 audited financial statements after a presentation by Kevin Stalford of Smith Elliot Curren Company.

Stalford told the board the firm had issued an "unmodified audit opinion," the strongest form of auditor assurance, and that "there were no findings related to our audit this year." He summarized key totals: roughly $65.7 million in total revenues for the general fund and about $60.7 million in total expenditures, producing a change in fund balance of about $5.1 million compared with a budgeted deficit of $521,000.

The auditor said the revenue increase was driven by local taxes (about a 4% rise) and a roughly 7% increase in state basic education funding. He flagged a one-time $2.4 million payment included in instruction line items for 2023-24 and reminded the board a prior-year $4.2 million transfer to capital reserve affected multi-year comparisons.

Stalford described the audit scope and limitations, noting the opinion applies to the financial statements as a whole and does not constitute an internal-controls or fraud investigation finding. He also summarized fund-balance composition: total governmental fund balance of about $21.6 million, a capital reserve of roughly $13.3 million and approximately $4.5 million of unassigned general-fund balance as of June 30, 2024.

Board members asked follow-up questions about how cyber-school students are counted in the instruction totals, the timing rules auditors apply to revenues and payables (the auditor cited the 60-day rule), and the schedule for 2024-25 fieldwork. Stalford said fieldwork was scheduled for late September/early October with final reports expected around January.

The board voted to accept the audit and authorized the administration to distribute the financial statements and related letters to required state agencies and the Capital Area Intermediate Unit.