Daniel Prince
Additional scrutiny from State Department of Education should end
The Union County School District’s audit was completed before the December 1st deadline for the first time in three years, which should end additional scrutiny from the SC Department of Education. Andrew Dobson with Halliday, Schwartz and Company presented the audit report for fiscal year 2021-2022 at last night’s meeting of the Union County Board of School Trustees. As in years past, the district received an unmodified opinion, which is the highest and best opinion that can be given. Dobson said there were no findings to report. 241 days ago, when Dobson presented the previous year’s audit, there were 8 findings, including a material noncompliance with state law and a significant deficiency. This year, Dobson said the district’s finance department corrected all those issues.
The district added $894,000 to the general fund balance this year, up from just over $5 million last year to $5,957,302 this year. That represents 18.81% of the actual expenditures for last year, and 16.42% of the current budget. The state minimum that districts are required to have on hand in their general fund is 8.33%, enough to cover one month’s worth of expenses. The district now has enough for nearly two months’ worth of expenses.
Prior to the presentation, Finance Director Kelly Richardson introduced the finance department staff and thanked them for their hard work in making this audit go smoothly:
(audio below story)
Following the audit presentation, Board member Frank Hart made a motion to commend Richardson and her staff for their work in getting the audit done on time. The vote was unanimous. Richardson noted that this is how the audit is supposed to go every year, but she and her staff were appreciative of the thanks.