Dexter Community Schools Financial Audit Shows Strong Fiscal Management

is in good financial shape heading into the 2012-2013 school year.

The district again received an “unqualified opinion” — the top results possible — during its annual financial audit by Lewis & Knopf, an external independent CPA firm.

“You’re doing quite well, especially in the state of Michigan at this time,” Michelle Hennagir, senior staff accountant at Lewis & Knopf told members of the Board of Education on Monday. “ A lot of districts are losing quite a bit and you see that in their fund balance."

Among the highlights, the report shows Dexter increased its fund balance to $7.75 million in the 2010-2011 school year, from $5.9 million during the 2009-2010 school year.

"The report shows that we didn't spend any more money than we took in last year," Sharon Raschke, chief financial officer for the district said.

She said the district was able to save money due to one-time financial distributions from the state.

"We budgeted to receive less funding in 2010 and they (state legislators) kept coming back with more federal money for us," she said. "We didn't go on a spending spree, so we were able to save some of that money for future use."

School Board President Larry Cobler said credit for the positive audit goes to the district's business office.

"Sometimes we take these results for granted, but they are a credit to our employees who spend hours of work compiling data," he said.

The full audit report is available to download on the district's website under the "budget transparency" tab on the business office's main page.