The Brainerd School Board Finance Committee heard a presentation Thursday from LarsonAllen, its independent auditors, about the annual audit.
Tom Koop of LarsonAllen said there were no financial statement corrections as a result of the audit.
The district’s general fund had an anticipated $70,284,817 in revenues in its 2010-11 budget. The actual revenues received were $70,283,113, a $1,704 difference.
The district had budgeted for $71,983,616 in expenses. Actual expenses were $71,507,863, a difference of $475,753, a net savings.
The district had budgeted $20,000 for preschool screenings but the actual expense was $10,481, a $9,519 difference, a savings.
Another change was the district had not budgeted for any capital sales but ended up receiving $230,379, the result of the College Drive easement proceeds from the City of Brainerd.
Steve Lund, director of business services, said most of these proceeds from the College Drive project will be repaid to the project by paying in full the expected special assessments resulting from the project and signal lights to be installed at Fifth and Quince streets, expected in Fiscal Year 2012.
In total, the general fund’s budgeted deficit was $1,718,799; the actual deficit was $1,004,852, a $713,947 positive net variance.
The total general fund budget had an estimated unrestricted year-end fund balance of $8,274,368, while the actual year-end balance was $8,260,998, a $13,370 difference. This is less than one-tenth of one percent of the overall budget. This unrestricted fund balance is maintained at a level equal to about 40 days of operating expenses, Lund reported.
Lund told board members that the majority of these reductions in expenses comes from reductions in site operations expenses, which includes energy costs, repairs and maintenance, and in slightly reduced staffing costs, when staffing vacancies weren’t replaced right away.
The committee closed its meeting to discuss negotiation strategies related to assessments involving adjacent property owners of Forestview Middle School.
JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.