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Audit Objective

Did District officials properly manage fund balance and ensure budget estimates and reserves were reasonable?

Key Findings

District officials could improve their management of the District’s fund balance and reserves.

• Officials overestimated appropriations by an average of $1.4 million (5.6 percent) from 2016-17 through 2018-19.
• In the last three completed fiscal years, the District generated operating surpluses totaling $2.3 million instead of the $2.6 million in deficits planned in the budgets.
• District officials have not updated the multiyear financial plan since it was first developed in 2016.

Key Recommendations

• Develop and adopt budgets that include realistic estimates for expenditures.
• Discontinue the practice of adopting budgets that appropriate fund balance that is not needed or used to fund District operations.
• Periodically review and update the multiyear financial plan.

District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they would take corrective action.