Auditor: H-BC School District's general fund continues to grow

The Hills-Beaver Creek School District entered the 2022-23 school year with a healthy fund balance, according to an independent auditor.
Matt Taubert with Meulebroeck, Taubert and Co. told board members at their Dec. 27 meeting that the goal of maintaining an unrestricted fund balance of at least 20 percent of the district’s average yearly expenditures or about $1.3 million had been reached.
Taubert said as of June 31, 2021, the district ended with a balance of $4.1 million.
“You’re about 61 percent of a year’s expenditures — which is good,” he said. “In the first couple of years of me coming over here it wasn’t great.”
Taubert, who works in Pipestone, began auditing duties for H-BC 11 years ago.
“In 2012, the district had a negative fund balance of $224,749 and has increased steadily since, and we end with a balance (in 2022) of $4.1 million,” he said. “In that 11-year period you’ve had increases of fund balance of $3 million. That’s good…you have funds available to weather the storms.”
For the 2021-22 school year, H-BC received $5.4 million in revenue or about $510,000 more than budgeted. The increase in revenue primarily came from receiving $219,000 in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSR) and an additional $152,000 in special education funding.
The district spent $5.3 million from the general fund.
Positive balances were recorded in the District’s restricted funds, including community service ($216,210), food service ($250,299) and debt service ($148,651).
The district’s debt decreased from $8.055 million in 2021 to $7.630 million, which is on track to be paid in full in 2036.