South Cook News

The Community Consolidated School District 146 Board of Education met on Dec. 12 and heard the findings of the district’s annual audit, and voted in favor of its finalized tax levy to submit to the Cook County assessor.

Kevin Bissell was at the meeting representing Mueller and Co, and he presented the findings of the audit to the board. The district received certificates of excellence in reporting from the Association of School Business Officials and the Government Finance Officers Association for the fiscal year ending June 2021. The board was happy to be, once again, honored with these commendations. Bissell said he felt confident in the audit.

“So just a couple of things I wanted to mention about the audit,” Bissell said. “Again, management is responsible for the selection and use of appropriate accounting policies. From our standpoint, the financial statements that we discussed are neutral, consistent and clear in terms of disclosures. We encountered no difficulties in dealing with management while performing our audit. And so again, just wanted to make sure I mentioned that again from our standpoint, you all went well. I wanted to thank Jeff and his staff for getting this information in very timely manner, very organized, and I really appreciate all the assistance we were given.”

Bissell told the board there were no errors in reporting in the district’s control systems. The district’s assets also increased by 3.5% from last year while liabilities decreased more than $3 million. The district had no issues with the single audit performed by the form, which was a close look at a particular program where a good financial position was found.

The board also voted on the finalized tax levy that needs to be submitted to the assessor by deadline. The district has plans to request a 4.99% increase from the previous year's levy. This is just under the 5% level that requires a truth-in-taxation hearing. This increase is below the consumer price index this year, and the main source of the district’s funding. 

The board voted unanimously to approve the levy, 6-0.

State law mandates that school districts need to disclose their cash balances at budget and levy hearings. Most business managers are disclosing June 30 audit numbers, when it was $41,074,995, and the most recent closed-out month at Oct. 31 the amount is $34,913,382.