Dupage Policy Journal

At its Nov. 16 meeting, the Bensenville school board heard from Kevin Bissell of the PKF Mueller accounting firm, who presented the results of the district’s recent audit.

Bissell said the opinion of his firm was good, presenting that the audit for fiscal year 2022 showed fair and balanced funds in the district through June 30, 2022. He then walked the board through the basics of the findings in the report, including highlighting the district's assets and liabilities funds, which were both at good levels.

"Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the statements in accordance with the modified cash basis of accounting," Bissell said. "This includes the design and the implementation of internal controls related to the preparation and presentation of the statements that are free from material misstatement. As far as the auditor's responsibilities, our objective is to obtain a reasonable assurance relative to the statements are free from material mistakes. We conducted our audit in accordance with U.S. generally accepted auditing standards as well as government auditing standards." 

Some notable changes in funds included a $4.6 million increase in the general fund, which is the main operating fund and a $2 million decrease in the capital projects fund over the year, which was in line with the planned expenditures for the year. Over 70% of the general fund balance, an amount of around $32 million, is unrestricted and able to be used for district costs at the district's discretion.

He also went through the footnotes of the report with the board, showing how some of the fund decreases balanced with increases in its assets due to the district's improvement projects, which were also offset by the normal depreciation of district assets. The expenses from the general fund amounted to $2.1 million under budget for the fiscal year. He also highlighted certain areas of the budget that the district does not have much control over due to state funding.