WEBSTER CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT NEW YORK LETTER OF COMMUNICATION For Year Ended June 30, 2024
October 3, 2024
To the Board of Education Webster Central School District, New York We have audited the financial statements of the governmental activities, each major fund, and the aggregate remaining fund information of the Webster Central School District, New York (the District) for the year ended June 30, 2024, and have issued our report thereon dated October 3, 2024. Professional standards require that we provide you with the following information related to our audit. A.
Our Responsibility in Relation to the Financial Statement Audit
As communicated in our engagement letter dated April 3, 2024, our responsibility, as described by professional standards, is to form and express an opinion about whether the financial statements that have been prepared by management with your oversight are presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Our audit of the financial statements does not relieve you or management of your respective responsibilities. Our responsibility, as prescribed by professional standards, is to plan and perform our audit to obtain reasonable, rather than absolute, assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit of financial statements includes consideration of the system of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, as part of our audit, we considered the system of internal control of the District solely for the purpose of determining our audit procedures and not to provide any assurance concerning such internal control. We are also responsible for communicating significant matters related to the audit that are, in our professional judgement, relevant to your responsibilities in overseeing the financial reporting process. However, we are not required to design procedures for the purpose of identifying other matters to communicate to you. B.
Planned Scope and Timing of the Audit
We conducted our audit consistent with the planned scope and timing we previously communicated to you. C.
Compliance with All Ethics Requirements Regarding Independence
The engagement team, others in our firm, as appropriate, our firm, and our network firms have complied with all relevant ethical requirements regarding independence. Safeguards in place to eliminate or reduce threats to independence to an acceptable level include a skilled, knowledgeable and experienced person who reviews draft financial statements prior to issuance and accepts responsibility for them.
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D.
Significant Risks Identified
Professional standards require that we identify and assess risks and design and perform our audit procedures to assess those risks. The two risks which are always identified in an audit are management override of internal controls and revenue recognition. The identification of a risk does not mean that it has occurred, but rather it has the potential to impact the financial statements. E.
Qualitative Aspects of the Entity’s Significant Accounting Practices
Significant Accounting Policies Management has the responsibility to select and use appropriate accounting policies. A summary of the significant accounting policies adopted by the District is included in Note 1 to the financial statements. As described in the Notes to the financial statements, during the year, the District changed its method of accounting by adopting GASB Statement 99, Omnibus 2022 and GASB Statement No. 100, Accounting for Changes and Error Correction as-an Amendment of GASB Statement No. 62. No matters have come to our attention that would require us, under professional standards, to inform you about (1) the methods used to account for significant unusual transactions and (2) the effect of significant accounting policies in controversial or emerging areas for which there is a lack of authoritative guidance or consensus. Significant Accounting Estimates and Related Disclosures Accounting estimates and related disclosures are an integral part of the financial statements prepared by management and are based on management’s current judgments. Those judgements are normally based on knowledge and experience about past and current events and assumptions about future events. Certain accounting estimates are particularly sensitive because of their significance to the financial statements and because of the possibility that future events affecting them may differ markedly from management’s current judgements. The most sensitive accounting estimates affecting the financial statements are as follows: 1. Management’s estimate of the other postemployment benefits and related deferred inflows/outflows is based on an actuarial calculation provided by a third party. 2. Management’s estimate of the net pension asset/liability and deferred outflows/inflows is based on actual assumptions provided by the individual state plans. We evaluated the factors and assumptions used to develop the above noted estimates and determined that they are (it is) reasonable in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole and in relation to the applicable opinion units. Financial Statement Disclosures Certain financial statement disclosures involve significant judgement and are particularly sensitive because of their significance to financial statement users. The most sensitive disclosures affecting the District’s financial statements relate to the other post employment benefits and pension plans. F.
Significant Difficulties Encountered During the Audit
We encountered no significant difficulties in dealing with management relating to the performance of the audit.
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G.
Uncorrected and Corrected Misstatements
For the purposes of this communication, professional standards also require us to accumulate all known and likely misstatements identified during the audit, other than those that are trivial, and communicate them to the appropriate level of management. Further, professional standards require us to also communicate the effect of uncorrected misstatements related to prior periods on the relevant classes of transactions, account balances or disclosures, and the financial statements as a whole and each applicable opinion unit. Management has corrected all such misstatements. Uncorrected misstatements or matters underlying those uncorrected misstatements could potentially cause future-period financial statements to be materially misstated, even though the uncorrected misstatements are immaterial to the financial statements currently under audit. H.
Disagreements with Management
For purposes of this letter, professional standards define a disagreement with management as a matter, whether or not resolved to our satisfaction, concerning a financial accounting, reporting, or auditing matter which could be significant to the District’s financial statements or the auditor’s report. We are pleased to report that no such disagreements arose during the course of our audit. I.
Representations Requested from Management
We have requested certain representations from management that are included in the management representation letter dated October 3, 2024. J.
Management Consultations with Other Accountants
In some cases, management may decide to consult with other accountants about auditing and accounting matters. Management informed us that, and to our knowledge, there were no consultations with other accountants regarding auditing and accounting matters. K.
Other Significant Matters, Findings, or Issues
In the normal course of our professional association with the District, we generally discuss a variety of matters, including the application of accounting principles and auditing standards, significant events or transactions that occurred during the year, operating and regulatory conditions affecting the entity, and operational plans and strategies that may affect the risks of material misstatement. None of the matters discussed resulted in a condition to our retention as the District’s auditors. L.
Other Matters
We applied certain limited procedures to the management’s discussion and analysis, schedule of changes in District’s total OPEB liability and related ratio, schedule of District’s proportionate share of the net pension liability, schedule of District contributions, and budget comparisons, which are required supplementary information (RSI) that supplements the basic financial statements. Our procedures consisted of inquiries of management regarding the methods of preparing the information and comparing the information for consistency with management’s responses to our inquires, the basic financial statements, and other knowledge we obtained during our audit of the basic financial statements. We did not audit the RSI and do not express an opinion or provide any assurance on the RSI.
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We were engaged to report on supplementary information accompanying the financial statements (as listed in the table of contents) but are not RSI. With respect to this supplementary information, we made certain inquiries of management and evaluated the form, content, and methods of preparing the information to determine that the information complies with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, the method of preparing it has not changed from the prior period, and the information is appropriate and complete in relation to our audit of the financial statements. We compared and reconciled the supplementary information to the underlying accounting records used to prepare the financial statements or to the financial statements themselves.
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This report is intended solely for the use of the Board and management and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties.
Rochester, New York October 3, 2024
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