By By BETTY MITCHELL GRAY
betty@wdnweb.com
Contributing Writer
An audit of Beaufort County Schools’ financial books for the 2009-2010 fiscal year resulted in a “clean opinion,” according to Adam Scepurek, an accountant with Dixon Hughes PLLC.
Scepurek told the Beaufort County Board of Education that the county schools’ financial reporting is in compliance with state and federal guidelines.
Scepurek said the audit produced “no issues to present to the board” and that he found “no deficiencies in internal control.”
It also noted that the school system met compliance requirements on each of its major state and federal programs for the fiscal year that ended June 30.
The report sites an increase in the school system’s general fund balance “allowing the school system to better accommodate emergencies and anticipated financial needs.”
It sites the board’s emphasis “on improving the instructional area through maximizing resources and utilizing all state, federal and local funds.”
It also notes the construction during the 2009-2010 fiscal year of a media and multi-purpose addition at John Cotton Tayloe Elementary School and a locker and weight room addition at Northside High School.
The report shows that the school system’s net assets decreased from $85.2 million as of June 30, 2009, to $84.5 million as of June 30 of this year, a decrease of $698,000, according to the report.
The school system’s capital assets decreased by $1.1 million during 2009-2010 as compared to the previous year. The decrease is primarily attributable to depreciation of capital assets being in excess of new construction by $968,000, according to the report.
The report shows the schools ended the 2010 fiscal year with a combined fund balance of $3.4 million, an increase of about $133,000 over the previous fiscal year in its governmental funds even as its total source of funding decreased by $2 million.
“It was good to add to your fund balance,” Scepurek told the board. “Going forward, it’s going to be a tough year for all school boards.”
Among the school system’s business-type funds, the School Food Service Fund and the Child Care Fund generated an aggregate increase in net assets of $63,000 during the year ending June 30, 2010 as compared to a decrease of $227,000 in the previous year.
Revenues exceeded expenses in the School Food Service Fund with overall expenses decreasing $296,000, primarily because of decreases in the cost of food purchases, an increase in federal funding and a decrease in employee salaries and benefits, according to the report.
During the 2010 fiscal year, school food-service operations generated a profit, resulting in an increase in net assets of $63,000 for the business-type funds. Child care operations generated a loss and had a decrease in net assets of $3,000, according to the report.
The report also notes that over the course of the 2010 fiscal year, the board revised its budget several times to account for changes in revenue and program allocations. As a result, the general fund budget decreased by $480,000 during the year.
The board voted unanimously to accept the report.