The analysis by the Office of the State Auditor is like a \u201ccheck engine\u201d light on a car\u2019s dashboard. It doesn\u2019t necessarily mean there\u2019s a problem, but it\u2019s probably time to check under the hood.<\/p>\n
In the case of Montezuma schools, auditors noted decreases in the district\u2019s operating margin and the change in its fund balance.<\/p>\n
The auditor found that 48 out of Colorado\u2019s 178 school districts had at least one \u201cwarning indicator,\u201d and nine \u2014 including Montezuma \u2014 had two. Montezuma was the only district on the Western Slope with two warning indicators.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll (of the nine) have had budget cuts, by eliminating jobs or cutting back on their educational programs,\u201d said Crystal Dorsey, a state auditor who helped write the report.<\/p>\n
Dorsey presented the report to the Legislative Audit Committee on Monday morning.<\/p>\n
In written comments responding to the audit, Montezuma-Cortez administrators gave several reasons for the auditors\u2019 warnings.<\/p>\n
First, cuts in state support for public schools have hit the district, and the district has cut expenses during the past two years, administrators wrote.<\/p>\n
Administrators used money left over from 2011 and 2012 to get through the current year. That triggered a warning in the fund balance ratio, which compares how much money a district has at the end of the year compared to previous years.<\/p>\n
Also, health insurance costs have hit the district especially hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe district has dramatically adjusted health insurance benefits and premiums to cover the rising health care costs,\u201d administrators wrote in response to the report.<\/p>\n
The \u201cgenerous benefits\u201d of the employee wellness plan forced the district to dip into its general fund, but the district has removed the benefit.<\/p>\n
Although the 2013 budget anticipates overspending of $250,000, the number isn\u2019t likely to be that high, because administrators froze the operating budget on May 15, the district said in its written response to the audit.<\/p>\n
Legislators did not have specific questions about Montezuma schools. At the end of the presentation, Sen. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, addressed school districts in general and thanked their leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing out of the worst recession of our lifetime, you have been presented challenges that previous generations have not had to face,\u201d said King, who is chairman of the Legislative Audit Committee.<\/p>\n