Waukesha School District’s 2010-11 Audit Overall Good, Board Member Says

Results of an audit of the for 2010-2011 were recently presented to the School Board.

Finance and Facilities Committee Chair Joe Como said that overall audit was good.

“We had a couple things to look at and reply to but nothing major,” he said. “We continue to move forward and make improvements as appropriate.”

Como said that taking into consideration the financial department’s recent transitioned from one software package to another, staff did a really good job.

During the audit, the auditors identified some areas where adjustments were needed to complete the financial statements; however, no material deficiencies were discovered. The audit adjustments were considered significant deficiencies, which are less severe but considered significant enough to merit attention.

These adjustments included:

• Correction of the accrued interest payable in the Other Post Employment Benefits Trust (OPED) Fund;
• Reclassification of transportation costs improperly recorded within the special education categories; and
• Recording the estimated value of the compensated absences and termination benefits available for conversion to future health insurance payments within the full accrual financial statements.

Some of the problem stemmed from the short timeframe the district had to prepare for the audit and the transition to a new software program, according to the response to the audit from Lauri Clifton, the district’s chief financial officer and director of business services.

The auditors recommended the reconciliation of all payroll and related liability accounts on a monthly or quarterly basis. Como said that the accounts are now being reconciled monthly instead of annually.

According to a summary of audited 2010-11 financial statements, the district’s general fund balance increased by $1,425,978 during the year, bringing the general fund balance up to $18 million at year’s end, June 30, 2011. Combined with the governmental fund balance, which decreased $1.6 million, the total fund balance was $21 million for all funds, which is $188,083 less than the previous year’s balance.