Distict receives clean audit

(Dec. 2011)  After conducting the annual audit in the fall of 2011, independent financial auditors found the Forest Lake Area School District's finances to be in good order and gave the district an unqualified, or clean, opinion. Year after year, our district has been given a clean opinion.

“The School District performed well.” said Aaron Nielsen, a principal of the auditing firm Malloy, Montague, Karnowski and Rodosevich. “We found no issues with financial accuracy, internal controls, and compliance with state law.”

In reviewing the 2010-2011 financial records, auditors found our schools took in slightly more general fund revenue than originally budgeted. Overall, combining revenue and expenses, the general fund results were within $47,699 of the sixty-four million dollar budget.    

The audit found that the district ended the fiscal year with an unassigned general fund balance of about $4.5 million. The unassigned fund balance grew by $19,147 dollars and now equals 7.1 percent of the district’s annual expenditure, or almost 4 weeks of spending.

The audit report, which also compares our schools to other districts across the state shows that Forest Lake Area Schools continue to spend less money per student than the average state and metro districts.

“Our staff works hard to be accurate, efficient, and fiscally responsible,” said Larry Martini, Director of Business Services.  “The results of this audit indicate that residents of our district can continue to be confident in the financial information and management of their schools.”