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Burgin Schools Earn A Clean Audit

Burgin Independent Schools received a clean audit.

That’s the verdict from the auditing firm, White and Company of Lebanon.

Joseph A. Montgomery, a CPA from White and Company, presented the new audit to the Burgin Board of Education last Wednesday.

The last several years, the school

Burgin Principal Chris LeMonds stands with Burgin High School senior Eden Smith, who attended the Governor’s Scholarship program with 378 students from across Kentucky in Morehead State University this summer. “It was an amazing experience,” Smith said.

district has recorded a negative fiscal position because changes in accounting law have forced schools to record their pension liability as a debt. Despite this, Burgin’s position increased $237,754 this year, from -$185,488 to $52,266 for the year.

“That’s a good number for a school this size,”  Montgomery said.

Burgin managed to improve its financial position even though the school’s pension liability increased by $130,516 this year, from $1,037,859 to $ 1,168,375.

All together, Burgin’s share of the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System’s unfunded liability amounts to over $19 million, Montgomery said.

“It gives you a feeling for what all this fighting is about,” he said.

The school’s general fund balance was up, from $722,545 at the start of the fiscal year to $805,340 at the end. General fund revenues decreased $15,666 and expenditures increased $180,682 as compared with the year before.

In the past fiscal year, the district recorded  $5,450,703 in overall revenue—nearly $78,000 over the year before—and $5,212,949 in expenses, while reducing bond debt by paying an additional $132,880 in interest on top of principal payments of $243,805.

In addition, Burgin purchased a new school bus for $93,947, the new portable classroom for $166,070 and another vehicle for $39,540. Still, the school’s total liabilities decreased $85,938.

Montgomery said Burgin has received an “unmodified opinion,” meaning the audit was clean. The auditors did recommend that club sponsors should complete properly approved purchase orders before making purchases.

“It did not rise to the level of a deficiency,” Montgomery said.

Burgin administrators said they had taken measures to ensure purchase orders were completed and approved before funds were spent.

“It was a good, clean audit,” Montgomery said.

To learn more, check out this week’s issue of the Harrodsburg Herald.

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