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Deer River recently received the results of the annual audit of financial statements that we are required by law to do. Again this year, the firm of Kern, DeWenter and Viere completed the audit for the district. You can view the majority of the district audit's two main documents here - the Management Letter and the Management Discussion and Analysis.
Some key findings from the audit:
Enrollment – The audit reports on historical enrollment data, which shows our Resident Average Daily Membership (ADM) estimated at 969 pupil units for September 2007, down from 1,074 in September 2003. Our actual enrollment reported in September was 958. This is consistent with our historical (and regional) trend of a 2% decline per year.
General Fund Revenues and Expenditures – Revenues for the year were $9,662,235 (up $38,786 from 2006) and Expenditures were $9,316,785 (up $45,940 from 2006). This is the second year in a row where Revenues have exceeded Expenditures.
General Fund Revenue Sources – Of the $9,662,235 in Revenues, $572,203 (5.9%) came from Local Property Taxes; $7,546,429 (78.1%) came from state sources; and $1,543,603 (16%) came from other sources, mostly federal revenue.
General Fund – The Unreserved Fund Balance of the school district increased from $571,679 (6.2% of expenditures) in 2006 to $1,269,020 (13.6% of expenditures) in 2007. A key point in that increase is that $310,000 of that increase is money that was borrowed to pay for projects in the schools – not discretionary money. Not including that, the $959,020 is just above the School Board policy of trying to maintain a balance of $900,000, which represents 9.7% of our expenditures, or about 5 weeks of operating expenditures. Kern, DeWenter, and Viere recommend having a balance representing 3 months’ expenditures to their clients, although most school districts fall well short of that.
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