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Pipestone Area Schools (PAS) ended fiscal year 2025 on June 30 with a general fund deficit of $232,549.
That was among the information included in the school district’s annual audit report that was presented by Matt Taubert, of Meulebroeck, Taubert & Co., during the School Board’s Dec. 15 meeting. Taubert said the financial statements received a clean and unqualified opinion, “which is exactly what you want to have.”
According to the audit report, the general fund had revenue of $17,169,479. The majority of that came from state sources, which totaled $14,341,495, or about 84 percent of total revenue. Local property taxes accounted for another $1,674,459, which was about 10 percent of total revenue. The rest came from other local, county and federal sources.
General fund expenditures totaled $17,403,476. The majority of that was spent on regular instruction, which totaled $8,006,540, or about 46 percent of total expenditures. Another $2,363,853 was spent on exceptional instruction, accounting for about 14 percent; and $2,072,308 was spent on site, buildings and equipment, accounting for about 12 percent. The rest was spent on pupil support services, administration, instructional support, vocational instruction, district support services and property insurance.
General fund revenue minus expenditures left a deficit of $233,997. Other financing sources and uses added $1,448, making the deficit $232,549, decreasing the fund balance to $7,333,381.
Of that, $5,490,199 is unassigned and “available for virtually any district expenditure,” Taubert said. He said the school district has about 33 percent of expenditures in its unassigned fund balance based on a three-year average of expenditures, which is within the target range of between 25 percent and 34 percent.
“I don’t think that’s excessive by any stretch of the imagination to have your fund balance approximately one-third of what an average year’s expenditures are,” Taubert said.
In addition to the general fund, PAS has a food service fund, community service fund, capital projects fund and debt service fund.
The food service fund had revenue of $1,113,859 and expenditures of $1,054,222, leaving a surplus of $59,637 and increasing the fund balance to $1,010,326. According to the audit report, the food service fund has $307,511 in excess funds. The school district will need to submit a written plan to the Minnesota Department of Education outlining how it plans to spend the funds, as it has in previous years. Taubert said most of the school districts he works with have had excess food service funds following the pandemic.
The Community Service Fund had revenue of $291,964 and expenditures of $275,198, leaving a surplus of $16,766 and increasing the fund balance to $568,979.
The capital projects fund for the roof work being done at the middle and high school had revenue of $127,892 and expenditures of $1,430,806, leaving a deficit of $1,302,914 and decreasing the fund balance to $1,487,883. Taubert said the fund is temporary and holds the bond proceeds for the project. The bond proceeds were deposited the previous year and are earning interest as the funds are being spent.
The debt service fund had revenue of $2,254,510 and expenditures of $2,192,952, leaving a surplus of $61,558 and increasing the fund balance to $484,797. Taubert said the debt service fund should have a balance of zero by the time the debt is paid off.