Mercer Schools Earn Clean Audit

Robert Moore

Herald Staff

rmoore@harrodsburgherald.com

Mercer County schools received a clean audit.

That was the news from Joseph A. Montgomery, a certified public accountant of White and  Company, of Lebanon, who conducted an audit on the school district’s finances for the fiscal year which ended on June 30. Auditors found “no issues of noncompliance.”

Montgomery said the district’s financial position was heading in the “right direction.” The final balance for the General Fund was $4.41 million. Even though fund revenues were down $106,000, the district managed to reduce expenditures by $529,000 over the year before.

The District had $31.7 million in revenue and $30.3 million in expenses. Their total net position increased by $1,381,031 to $16,791,767.

“That’s a good move for a school district,” Montgomery said.

Superintendent Dennis Davis also gave a progress report on pension reform. Davis said, from what he understood, a special session of the state legislature would not be called. Instead, the GOP caucus intends to introduce a new plan during the first two weeks of the regular session, which will start in January.

Davis said he hopes the new plan is better than the one Gov. Matt Bevin introduced earlier this year, which would have moved state and county employees—including teachers, who do not collect Social Security—to 401-k type plans.

There is a lot at stake with pension reform. According to the audit, the total pension liability for the Mercer School District is $124 million.

Davis said he has learned that legislators are looking at slashing the education budget again, by perhaps as much as 15-percent.

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