Audit highs and lows

In a rundown of the annual audit, the Cloquet school board got mixed news on the budget and the best rating from the auditing firm BerganKDV.

Revenues for the last fiscal year were slightly higher than expected, at $36,935,439 versus $36,762,596, a difference of $172,843. However, the general fund account showed expenditures of $1.3 million, $1 million more than the predicted budget deficit of $284,000.

But that doesn’t mean the district was in the red by roughly $1.3 million.

BerganKDV manager Dustin Opatz explained the bulk of the extra expenditures are being covered with federal Covid funds...