Fowlerville Community Schools - Audit, Budget & Financial Transparency

[Shadowninja]

Dearest reader,

Lady B is back in Fowlerville Community Schools, and today we're opening the district's audit and budgets.

📚 STEP 5: AUDIT, BUDGET & FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY

We've followed the enrollment numbers, administrative spending, staffing, compensation, and checkbook.

Now it's time to look at the district's overall financial health.

And there are a few things worth paying attention to. 🔎

💰 LET'S START WITH THE GENERAL FUND.

According to Fowlerville's financial records:

📘 2024–25 Audited Fund Balance:
$4,139,473

📙 2025–26 Projected Fund Balance:
$2,929,479

📗 2026–27 Projected Fund Balance:
$3,413,717

Notice something?

The district's amended 2025–26 budget projects a $1,209,994 DEFICIT.

That's approximately $1.2 MILLION more in expenditures than revenues for that fiscal year.

The following year's adopted budget projects a partial recovery, but the General Fund balance would still remain below its 2024–25 audited level.

And remember, those last two figures are budget projections, not final audited results.

📉 NOW, LET'S LOOK AT THE 2026–27 BUDGET.

Compared with the amended 2025–26 budget:

🍎 Basic Instruction: DOWN 8.72%

📚 Added Needs Instruction: UP 3.88%

🏛� General Administration: UP 0.75%

🏫 School Administration: DOWN 1.87%

💼 Business Office: DOWN 1.78%

🔧 Operations & Maintenance: UP 3.74%

Now, here's what catches my attention.

Basic instruction is projected to decrease by more than 8%, while general administration is projected to increase slightly.

Does that automatically mean something improper is happening?

Of course not.

Budgets change for many reasons, including staffing, enrollment, grants, and program needs.

But when classroom-related spending decreases, I think taxpayers deserve to understand what is driving those decisions.

🔎 WHAT DID THE AUDIT FIND?

Let's give credit where it's due.

Fowlerville received an unmodified, or CLEAN, audit opinion for the 2024–25 fiscal year.

The auditor did not identify any material weaknesses or reportable noncompliance in its Government Auditing Standards report.

That's important, and it deserves to be acknowledged.

However, the auditor also issued a separate management letter identifying a concern.

🍎 THE FOOD SERVICE FUND

The auditor reported that Fowlerville's Food Service Fund balance exceeded the three months of operating expenditures permitted under Michigan Department of Education guidelines.

The district's Food Service Fund ended the 2024–25 fiscal year with a balance of $913,605.

The auditor recommended developing a plan to spend down the excess.

To be clear, this was a management-letter concern, not a finding that changed the district's clean audit opinion.

But it is still something the auditor considered important enough to bring to the district's attention.

📂 AND NOW, TRANSPARENCY.

This one is particularly interesting to me.

When I previously examined Fowlerville's financial records, additional historical audits and budgets were available.

Now, the district's designated transparency page displays only the most recent audit and two recent budgets.

Why does that matter?

Because historical financial records allow taxpayers to follow trends, compare expenditures, and understand how financial decisions have changed over time.

A clean audit doesn't automatically mean a district is providing the most useful level of public transparency.

And while I cannot establish why those older documents are no longer displayed, I believe maintaining a readily accessible historical financial archive is simply good public practice.

💬 SO, HERE'S MY QUESTION:

When a district projects a $1.2 million operating deficit, reduces basic instructional spending, and has an auditor-identified Food Service Fund concern, shouldn't taxpayers have easy access to the historical financial records needed to understand the bigger picture?

I certainly think so.

And there's one more significant piece of Fowlerville's financial picture that deserves its own discussion.

The district's outstanding debt and borrowing obligations.

That's coming in Step 5A. 👀

For now, these figures come from Fowlerville Community Schools' 2024–25 independent audit, amended 2025–26 budget, and adopted 2026–27 budget.

No accusations. No assumptions.

Just public records, financial trends, and questions worth asking.

With receipts and respect.

#LadyBudgetdown #FowlervilleCommunitySchools #LivingstonCounty #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #EducationTransparency #SchoolBudgets #PublicEducation #AuditFindings #TaxpayerAccountability #FollowTheReceipts