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Auditors found no problems in their annual look at Dunkirk City School District finances.
Two auditors from Drescher & Malecki, a Cheektowaga accounting firm, conducted the review. They reported to the Dunkirk Board of Education last week.
"We are providing what's called an unmodified opinion, with no significant deficiencies or material weaknesses," said one auditor. "It's essentially as good as you can get from our own standpoint."
He added, "We didn't feel like there was anything we needed to formally communicate (to the state) in terms of something we wanted to see corrected."
The Dunkirk school district received $48.4 million in revenue last school year, up from $45.9 million the previous year. "Most of that has to do with state aid," the auditor said. "Lottery aid, in particular, really jumped up last year. I think it has to do with the new online gambling filtering through to the districts."
He noted that higher interest rates are a double-edged sword for the school district. It will make more money from interest payments but will wind up with higher debt if it bonds for projects.
Expenditures rose to $48.2 million, up from $45.9 million. The rise is mostly attributable to inflationary increases on services and goods, and contractually mandated salary hikes.
The school district's total fund balance went from $24.1 million to $24.3 million. About $9 million of that is assigned for capital projects. Some $2.5 million will be used in the upcoming school year's budget.
The auditor said $2.2 million is unassigned, "which is your piggy bank, essentially money that you can use at your discretion."
By law, the unassigned portion must be less than 4% of the next year's budgeted expenditures. "We are clear of that," the auditor said.
His sidekick, who only spoke towards the end of their presentation, stated, "To have a report like this was a dream. We don't have a clean report like this too often." She went on to praise the Dunkirk school district's financial officials.