Caledonia Argus

School district audit shows positive general fund balance of $254,000

Posted: 11/25/03

By David Heiller
Argus News Editor

The Caledonia school board got good news from auditor Darwin Viker at its November 24 meeting.

His audit for the period of July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003 shows that the district has a general fund balance of $254,000.

Thatís a big improvement over recent years, when a deficit had put them in statutory operating debt, he told the board, which was meeting at the Eitzen Community Center.

But he cautioned the board that this surplus was below what he would like to see school districts have, which is one monthís worth of operating capital, or about $600,000.

Their surplus will be helped by an excess levy which kicks in next year. But it could all be quickly used up by inflation or salary increases to staff, he said. He urged them several times to watch their staffing ratios to make sure they re operating efficiently.

ìIf enrollment is falling, you need to make corresponding cuts,î he said ìHopefully the state is going to come through, but we havenít had any good news lately.î

Viker, who works at LarsonAllen in Austin, went through the audit during a 45-minute Power-Point presentation.

The state is holding back more state aid than before, forcing even the best school districts to borrow money so that they donít get caught short, he said. This impacts cash flow but not fund balances.

Change coming next year

For fiscal year 2004, school districts will have a different audit called GASB-34, which was mandated by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board.

It will require the district to report its finances with one balance sheet called a statement of net assets. The district will also have to keep a traditional financial statement.

The result will be a larger, more complicated statement, Viker said on November 18. But it will have an addition that should be well-received by citizens: a management discussion and analysis, which have certain requirements so that the average person who is not an accountant will get a good feeling for how the district did for that year.

The old financial statements werenít meeting the needs of the average citizen, Viker said.

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